


Juno Steel and the Multi-Dimensional Boy Detective

by julzy_poolzy



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast), The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Canon Nonbinary Character, Canon Trans Character, Canon-Typical Behavior, Canon-Typical Violence, Crew as Family, F/M, How Do I Tag, M/M, My First AO3 Post, Not Beta Read, Peter Nureyev Alias Generator (Penumbra Podcast), Post-Episode: e067-069 Story and Song Parts 1-3, Post-Episode: s1e01-02 Juno Steel and the Case of the Murderous Mask, Pre-Episode: s01e14-15 Juno Steel and the Train from Nowhere, accidental adoption, angus is Babey, angus is a TEEN, dw he's barely 13, juno steel interacts with a child and its wholesome, let juno say fuck, other characters are mentioned but they don't show up or speak so i didnt tag them, season one juno steel, taako adopts angus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:40:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 24,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22466563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/julzy_poolzy/pseuds/julzy_poolzy
Summary: Juno Steel walks into a case expecting just your average art theft until he finds a literal child also trying to solve the case.The crossover fic apparently a lot of people wanted but no one asked for and I accidentally wrote 20k words for.
Relationships: Angus McDonald & Everyone, Angus McDonald & Taako, Barry Bluejeans & Angus McDonald, Barry Bluejeans/Lup, Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone), Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel
Comments: 107
Kudos: 389





	1. Chapter 1

Juno Steel, Private Investigator, did not expect this case to be any different than the thousands of other “art theft” cases he’d done. The patron of the Museum of Colonized History hired him to solve the case because like hell is the HCPD going to actually do anything about it.

He’d heard from Rita that the HCPD has actually solved several cases just within the past week, even a few cold cases that have been there since before Juno even enrolled in the Academy.

That wouldn’t last. Eventually whatever new recruit they got would lose their grip, become just as corrupt as the rest of them.

Juno never really went to any museums. He lives here, who goes to Museums where they live voluntarily? Every time they had a field trip during school he’d skip it with Mick and Sasha.

Every time he had gone into a museum, it was closed because something had been stolen and he was there to solve the mystery. He was just there to get paid.

The patron of the museum was standing in her office with a cop and a little boy. The cop looked like, well, a cop, but the little boy was dressed in his Sunday best. Dress pants, collared shirt with a tie and a waistcoat. He had this comically big glasses on his face and a newsboy cap on with a black feather stuck to the side. He had out a notebook and was writing everything down as she talked.

Her eyes lit up when she saw Juno outside of her office and immediately stood up to get the door.

“Detective Steel. Fantastic! I was just wondering when you would arrive.”

“Mx. Ande. I’d say it’s great to see you again, but I only ever see you when you’ve been stolen from.”

She lets out a laugh, guiding Juno into her office and sitting back down at her desk. “Officer, you can leave now. I’m sure Detective Steel and your… appointed Detective can handle the case.”

The Officer scowls at Juno and gives him a bit of a shove as they leave. He just rolls his eyes and sits down next to the little boy, who has stopped taking notes and is now looking up at him.

“Hello, sir! I’m Angus McDonald. I’ve heard a lot about you! Glad to make your acquaintance.” Angus sticks out his hand and Juno takes it, surprised.

“You… are a Detective?” He nods, still smiling.

“Yes! I’ve been working with the HCPD and have solved many cases since I arrived on Mars! You used to work for the HCPD, right? Do you remember the case of the garbage bag full of teeth?” He nods. “Well, it was the mailman dropping them off at the address. He was a serial killer. Catching him also solved three dozen unsolved murder cases.”

“That’s… that’s really impressive, uh… Detective McDonald.” The little boy’s smile grows brighter when Juno calls him that. The detective holds back his own smile, turning to Ande. “Mx. Ande, could you run me through everything you know about the robbery?”

She was silent as Juno and Angus got acquainted, but brings her friendly smile back to her face as they both bring the attention back to her.

“Yes, of course. Detective McDonald arrived only moments before you did, Detective Steel, but I’ve already told him everything I know. The security footage was wiped clean, and our backup servers were completely disconnected all night. No alarms went off, except for the one surrounding the Totem. We just installed it the night before, but, well, obviously it didn’t do us any good.”

“I’ll need to see the documents regarding the- the Totem. All the information you have about it and where it’s from. How it got here. As well as the time stamps for when the security cut out when the alarm went off, and when the security came back online. Send it over to my secretary.” She nods, typing on her computer.

“The artifact was stolen from Hall B, Detectives. I trust you’ll be able to find your way there?”

Angus gets up first, heading to the door. “Thank you very much, Mx. Ande. C’mon, Detective Steel!”

**_~~~_ **

“So…” Juno starts, looking down at Angus. He wasn’t used to working with anyone shorter than him, and this kid definitely hasn’t had a growth spurt yet. “You are obviously a very good Detective, and I don’t mean to be rude, but… what kinda parents let their kid just go to the cops and solve a murder mystery? Also, shouldn’t you be in school? It’s Tuesday.”

Angus stifles a laugh and looks up at him. “Sir… It’s Sunday. And I’m in University. On break, right now, actually.” Juno stops and just stares at him. “I’m thirteen years old, Sir. I started University last year.”

“Alright, Boy genius. That’s… real cool.” Angus nods at the praise, still smiling, and keeps walking. Juno takes a mental note that he didn’t say anything about his parents. “You don’t have to call me ‘sir’, by the way. You can just call me ‘Juno’.” He hasn’t had very good experiences with people he’s called ‘sir’.

“That’s alright! You can call me Angus, sir.” Juno sighs and follows the kid to Hall B.

**_~~~_ **

Most of the cops have left the scene by the time they arrive. Ducking under the yellow tape, Juno puts on his gloves and goes to the pedestal in the middle of the room. A broken circle of glass sits inside the case, scattered around a perfect square where the base of the totem must have been. The holographic plaque around the pedestal displays its name: The Totem of the Stars.

Angus follows him, putting on his own pair of gloves. “Perfect circle… A professional job.” Juno picks up a piece of glass, turning it over and looking at the edges.

He takes out a small bag and puts a piece inside, storing it in his pocket. “No prints, so, yeah. Security footage gone… none of the security guards even knew anything was wrong until the alarm went off. This person… did their homework.”

“Why take a piece of glass, sir?” 

“Knowing Ande, she’s probably upgraded her cases since the last time something was stolen from her. You’d need a very specific tool to cut through glass like this, and in a perfect circle. And putting in that alarm last minute… she was worried about someone trying to steal it.”

“Wow, sir! That’s really smart!”

“Yeah, uh… guess so.”

Looking around the room, Juno can’t find anything else of note. The HCPD’s muddy footprints are all over the room, ruining any clue he could’ve found that way. Nothing else was stolen. No other case has so much as a fingerprint on it.

Juno glances over to Angus, who has wandered over to a different display. It’s a glass ball large enough to fit in one hand. It glows different colors depending on where you’re standing. He starts to walk over to the kid, and Juno swears the kid’s brown eyes flash gold as he looks at it, breath-stopping as he just… stares.

“Hey, uh… kid? Angus?” Juno waves his hand in front of the kid’s face and he jumps, taking a step back. 

“I’m sorry, sir, I just… just got a little distracted, that’s all!” He smiles again.

“That’s fine, Angus. There’s not a lot left here anyway. The glass is our only lead right now until Ande sends my secretary the documents.” Juno looks at the thing Angus was staring at. “The…. hmm… The Traveler’s Beacon, huh? Just kinda looks like a glass ball.”

Angus chuckles, looking up at him. “Legends say it fell out of the sky onto Earth thousands of years ago. They thought it was magic.”

Juno raises an eyebrow, taking a closer look. “Magic…. Right. Okay. Well, kid, I think I’m gonna get outta here. Nothing left to detect.” He starts to walk away, but Angus follows him.

“Wait, sir! Don’t you think it would be better for us to work together on this?”

“You’re very capable, kid, but I work best alone.”

“I really think it would be best if we just work together, sir. I am going to investigate this case whether or not we do it together, I just thought it might be… more effective to combine our resources.” Juno stops and turns around, looking at this kid, who is apparently a teenager. He barely reaches Juno’s shoulder in height, and Juno is a rather short lady. His brown skin is dotted with freckles and black curls frame his face. Angus takes his glasses off for a moment to clean the lenses, and he looks a little like…

“Yeah,” Juno says, without thinking. “Yeah, okay. They give you an office back at the HCPD, kid?”

“No, I usually just work in Captain Khan’s office, sir!”

“Alright. Do you want to… come back to my office? Ande should’ve sent the documents by now.”

Angus smiles. “Sounds good, sir.”

**_~~~~~_ **

After awkwardly throwing a bunch of junk into the back seat of his car and a very silent car drive, they finally make it back to Juno Steel: Detective Agency.

“Mistah Steel! Back already? OHH!! Have you already solved the case? Quickest one yet, Mistah Steel! That’s real impressive of… you….” Rita trails off as Angus walks out from behind Juno, still smiling. “Mistah Steel, did you have a CHILD and not TELL ME?”

“What?! Rita, no-”

“Oh, Mistah Steel, who was it with?” She gasps. “Do you not know? Did you just find out you have a son? OOOOHH!!!!”

“Rita! Please!” Juno says loudly, not yelling, just enough to get Rita’s attention. “Rita. This is Angus McDonald. He’s a detective. We’re working together on this case.” Rita opens her mouth, but Juno cuts her off before she can say anything. “He is not my son.” She frowns and huffs, annoyed.

“Whatevah ya say, Mistah Steel.”

Juno sighs and looks down at the boy detective. “This is my secretary, Rita. She’s a bit… excitable.” Angus beams and walks over, offering Rita his hand for a shake.

“Hello, Miss Rita! It’s very nice to meet you!”

Rita takes his hand, also beaming. “Oh my goodness, Mistah McDonald, you are the cutest thing I’ve ever seen! I hope ya don’t mind me sayin’ so, but you really are. Cuter than a kitten!”

A small blush raises on his cheeks and his smile gets shyer. “Thank you, Miss Rita.”

Juno smirks, then realizes he’s actually almost smiling and coughs to hide it, bringing back his neutral face. “Have you gotten any documents from Ande yet, Rita?”

“Oh! Yeah, I’ve already sent them to your monitor.”

“Thanks, Rita. Think you could pause that stream to get me and the kid some lunch? From the diner down the road?”

“Sure, Mistah Steel! Whadya want, Mistah McDonald?”

“I, uh…”

“Never been there before, huh? I’ll bring up the menu and you pick something out, okay? It’s goin’ on the company card, don’t worry about it.”

“By company card, she means my card, Angus. Get whatever you want,” Juno smiles as Angus stands behind Rita’s chair, looking at her monitor as she pulls up the diner’s menu. “Come into my office after you pick something out, okay?” Angus nods and Juno goes into his office, leaving the door open.

There’s barely a moment before Rita whispers, badly, to Angus. “Are you sure you’re not Mistah Steel’s kid?”

He hears Angus laugh, softly. “I’m sure, Miss Rita. I know who my parents were.”

It’s silent for a moment before she speaks again. “I’m real sorry for askin’, Mistah McDonald.”

“It’s okay, Miss Rita.” He quiet again. “I think I’d like this one.”

“Sounds good, Mistah McDonald! I’ll be right back with lunch!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this! I have ~9 chapters written so far and I'm not really sure how long it'll go but, hey, there's like an 80% chance I'll actually finish this one!


	2. Chapter 2

Angus McDonald may be his World’s Greatest Detective, but he is still a little boy. He only very recently turned Thirteen. He hasn’t hit a growth spurt yet, and he doesn’t expect to soon. What he does remember about his biological parents is that they were both rather short, and so was his grandfather, so he doesn’t expect to be tall.

He lived through the Rockport Limited train ride with a Serial Killer, he lived through the Hunger, he lived through the literal apocalypse when he was only Eleven.

He could live through accidentally transporting himself to another dimension.

This dimension had a different planar system than his home. He found that out on the first night here. He barricaded himself into an abandoned apartment building on the outskirts of the city for the night. He tried to cast sending, to see if he could even reach his family, and it didn’t work. He used prestidigitation to light a candle, and mending to repair his bag from when someone with a glowing knife tried to steal it from him.

His sleep that night, while fitful, still lasted until morning. Angus could feel his magic hadn’t returned to him. He had to use magic carefully here because once he was out… he was out.

Angus ‘happened’ upon a crime scene, found who stole the jewels and got in good with the local government. He did a bit of a shady deal with some guy for their currency in exchange for the gold he’d brought with him and used it to buy the device these people used for communication. He made a deal with the HCPD that he’d solve their cases and let them take credit for it as long as he gets paid.

It had only been a few days.

He liked the police captain here. Captain Khan kind of reminded him of Captain Captain Bane from the Goldcliff militia, but he was pretty sure nothing here could magically convince Khan to murder Angus.

When Angus wasn’t working with the HCPD, he was in the local library, searching for something that could help him. He learned a lot about this dimension and he wondered if this is what it was like for the IPRE when they were hopping from dimension to dimension.

The only difference here is that they knew they’d be able to leave eventually.

Angus trusted his family to be able to find him. He knew Lucas Miller was a good scientist and, yeah, Angus probably shouldn’t have tested out the dimensional rift portal without Lucas in the lab with him, but he left all his notes there! Lucas knew how to get here, now, for sure, he’d just have to figure out how to maintain the rift and get home.

He was trying to find out a way to get home on his own, though. He stayed hidden in the library for hours, reading everything he could.

Nothing here sounded… fantastical enough. He was a fast reader normally, but Madam Director enchanted his glasses to help him read faster. He got through a full novel in under half an hour.

He knew the approximate history of this entire galaxy by the end of the first night, but he couldn’t find anything to help him.

On the second night, though, he got lucky. He was reading about artifacts from Earth, the planet where the human race started. Third Planet in this Solar System. He was on the Fourth Planet, Mars, the first one to be really colonized by humans.

One artifact caught his eye. The Traveler’s Beacon. According to all the books he could find about it, the Beacon fell from the sky and onto the planet Earth in the year 2XXX. Not too long after that, the first colonizers came to Mars. The humans believed the Beacon was full of magic that enabled them to make the discoveries necessary for travel through the galaxy.

This object sounded  _ incredibly  _ similar to the Light of Creation, and Angus knew he had to find it. On a stroke of luck, it was being kept in the Museum of Colonized History here, on Mars.

Angus was watching the Museum from the roof of a building across the street, using new high-tech binoculars he bought with ‘Creds’. The young detective figured he’d solved enough thefts to learn how to get away with one. It wasn’t like he would be in the HCPD’s reach once he got the Beacon, anyway.

He didn’t expect to catch someone in the act of stealing while he was planning his own theft.

Someone tall and slender, clad entirely in black was approaching one of the far too many back entrances to the museum, looking down at their watch as they leaned against the door. In a moment, they disappeared inside the building, making no sound. When they came out, there was still no noise from inside the museum, but they held an item in a black bag as they ran.

Angus, in his haste, jumped off of the building and cast Feather Fall on himself. He chased the figure through various alleys, but their legs were far longer than Angus’ and he lost them.

Out of breath and upset, Angus leaned against the wall to breathe. They were really tall. Over 6 feet, probably anywhere from 6’2” to 6’4”. Slender. Not a lot of muscle, but obviously very good at cardio. Angus still would’ve been able to catch him, if only he had longer legs.

A master thief. Who just stole from the place Angus is trying to steal from without making any commotion at all.

When Angus woke up the next morning to find 100 Creds safely hidden under his barricade.

He showed up to the HCPD with only one task in mind. Find the thief, and convince them to help. Even with the spell he used earlier, he still had enough magic in him to use Charm Person, if it came to that.

Angus McDonald just wanted to go home.

**_~~~_ **

When he stepped into Hall B with Detective Steel, Angus knew the Beacon was in there. He did his research. When he finished keeping up his act for the Detective and remaining cops, doing a quick look over the crime scene, he stepped away.

Angus went toward the Beacon. There was one way to be sure he could be absolutely positive it could help him get home.

He cast Detect Magic, and the Beacon lit up like, well, a beacon.

Angus didn’t realize how different everything really was on Mars. Everything else around him was gray. Back on Faerun, there were small traces of magic everywhere. In all the people around, in every creature, but here… Nothing. Absolutely nothing save for himself and the Beacon.

This was his way home. 

He needed to find that thief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be posting kinda-consistently over the next week because I don't ~think~ it'll take me that long to finish but I also don't want to post everything I have written at once and then not update for a few days straight.  
> Author is tired and it's only noon.  
> Oh!!! You can find me on twitter @julzy_poolzy and on tumblr @julzypoolzy  
> shoutout to maggie for telling me to write this after I ranted about this idea at her for an hour on the phone, ily


	3. Chapter 3

Juno and Angus ate their lunch and read the documents in silence. The sound of Rita’s stream and the occasional sip of a straw was the only noise in the entire office for hours.

“You were right,” Angus says, standing up and walking over to Juno. “The type of glass used on the cases was upgraded a year ago. Resistant to all Earth bullets, all common types of laser fire and the standard plasma knife, as well as all heavy-duty plasma knives found on Mars.”

Juno smiles at him. An actual smile. “Great work, Angus! Hey, Rita!”

“Yeah, Boss?”

“Can you look on the criminal web and find anything about plasma knives or lasers stronger than the heavy-duty type found on Mars?”

“It’s gettin’ real late, Boss.”

“Crime doesn’t sleep, Rita!”

“I know that Mistah Steel, and I’m okay with stayin’ overtime, you should just probably get Mistah McDonald home.”

Juno looked outside for the first time since Lunch. It was starting to get dark outside.

Well, as dark as it could get with Hyperion City’s lights.

“Angus, lemme give you a ride home, okay? These streets are nasty.”

The little boy is stuffing his things in his messenger bag, hurrying to the door. 

“Oh, it’s okay, sir! I don’t live far! I’ll be okay!”

Juno raises an eyebrow at him, crossing his arms and staring him down.

Angus doesn’t budge.

“Alright, kid. You have my comms. Message me when you get home so we know you’re safe, okay?” Angus nods, still smiling.

“I will, sir! Goodnight!”

“Goodnight, Mistah McDonald.”

Once Angus is out the door, Juno and Rita make eye contact. This is the first time they’ve been alone since they met Angus.

“Kid doesn’t have parents.”

“I know, Rita.” Juno sighs, walking over to the door and grabbing his coat. “I’m gonna follow him home, just to make sure he’s okay. Kid’s always smiling and that… there’s something not right.” He shrugs his coat on, opening the door, glancing out to see Angus turning a corner at the end of the road. “Find anything you can about him, okay?”

Juno hears an affirmation from Rita as he rushes to his car, turning it on and following Angus through the Hyperion City streets.

**_~~~_ **

Angus takes a lot of weird turns when he finally reaches his destination: an old apartment complex on the edge of Hyperion City, right next to the dome. He goes inside the building. Juno parks his car and waits for fifteen minutes, but the boy detective doesn’t come back outside.

Juno could name a dozen routes that would have gotten him here faster. Angus definitely isn’t from Hyperion City.

He got out of his car and approached the building slowly, leaning against the wall near one of the boarded-up windows. He could hear shuffling inside, but it only seemed to be one set of feet moving. Juno heard Angus sigh, and the sound of him landing on a mattress.

The boy detective took a deep breath and started to talk silently, seemingly to himself.

“One more try. I-” Juno can hear Angus sniffle like he’s trying not to cry. “I’ll get home. I promise. I miss you so much.” His voice cracks. “I want to go home… I just want to go home.”

He can hear Angus groan and fall back on the mattress. “C’mon, McDonald! Just one misadventure… you’ll be fine. It’ll all be fine.” Angus starts to mumble to himself again, but so quietly that Juno can’t hear it.

Something in Juno’s heart lurches. When he started out as a Private Eye, Juno swore he’d never take a case that involved kids. He just couldn’t do it. Then, here he is, with a crying kid on the other side of a wall, and Juno wants nothing more than to rescue him. Do anything he can in his power to help this kid.

Juno feels his comms in his pocket, silently cursing himself for not putting it on silent. He doesn’t hear any hurried movement from Angus inside, though, so he assumes it’s fine as he checks his message from Rita.

**From: RITA!**

i found absolutely nothing on Angus McDonald 

i ran his face through software 

nothing 

it’s like he popped out of thin air a week ago

Juno put his comms back in his pocket (on silent this time) and thought about how to approach this situation. Thinking before he acts isn’t usually Juno’s style, but with this kid… something is different. This kid is incredibly smart, for one, probably smarter than Juno. He didn’t exist on public record until a week ago. He’s not from Hyperion. Juno didn’t sense the kid was lying about anything he told him, but he was obviously withholding some major information.

Juno, against all odds, really liked this kid after only spending a day with him. And he knew he needed to do something.

While considering how to talk with Angus about this without seeming like a total creep, he was distracted.

Angus came around the corner, holding a wooden stick and pointing it at Juno. He looked confused for a moment when he recognizes the detective but keeps the stick pointed at him.

“Why did you follow me?” Juno puts his hand up in reverence, trying to signal he means no harm, but also isn’t really sure what to do about a kid so small just pointing a twig at him.

“I was worried, kid. And it looks like I was right to be worried.” Juno gestures to the building. “An abandoned complex on the edge of the dome? Whadya have in there, kid, an old mattress? Is the structure even stable?” Juno crouches down to get eye level with Angus and the kid slowly lowers the twig in his hand. “This is real close to Old Town, kiddo, and all you’ve got to defend yourself is some unstable walls and a twig. Rita is… real good at research and she found absolutely nothing on ya. I’m not gonna turn you into CPD if that’s what you want. I talked to some of their people myself when I was your age and they’re… not great.”

Juno studies Angus as he speaks. The kid’s hands are trembling and his eyes are red and puffy from tears that are still stained on his cheeks. His tie is undone and his collar is lopsided, shirt untucked from his dress pants and sleeves rolled up.

“Do you have family somewhere that you want to get back to?” Angus nods slowly. “Then I’ll help you however I can, kiddo. First step of that is getting you somewhere safe, alright? I don’t have a spare room but I do have a couch that’s pretty comfy. And those walls aren’t gonna cave in any time soon.”

Angus nods, quietly, and heads back into the building. Juno follows him this time, looking inside.

There’s a pile of rubble next to the door that he assumes Angus used to barricade himself in at night. All of the windows are boarded up and there’s several holes in the floor and ceiling, a bit of light coming in from outside. There’s a beaten up twin-sized mattress in the far corner with Angus’ messenger bag and sweater on it, as well as a half-eaten snack bar.

Bag slung over his shoulder, Angus stands in front of Juno and nods.

**_~~~~~_ **

“My place isn’t very nice. It’s kind of a shi….. Craphole.” Angus lets out a huff of breath, an almost-laugh, when Juno says that.

“It’s okay to swear in front of me, sir.” Juno looks down at the kid inquisitively. “I am in college, sir. Most of the people I interact with are adults.”

“I’m… I’m not gonna push you for your whole backstory, kid, so don’t worry about that.” Juno unlocks the door to his apartment, walking in and tossing his keys on the kitchen table. He tries to think about what he would’ve wanted an adult to say to him, one of the thousand times he and Benten tried to run away from home. What does an emotionally stable adult do when they find an orphan living in an abandoned building, solving mysteries for cash? “What do you need right now, kid? I’ve… run away from home a fair few times. Snuck out of a foster home once or twice, too.”

Juno sits down at his kitchen table, sparing a glance to Angus. His hands are clasped in front of him and he’s twiddling his thumbs, like he doesn’t know what else to do. He’s studying the apartment, trying to discern everything he can about Juno’s personality from the place he lives. Kid’s a detective, after all, and a damn good one. He’ll note the two empty bottles of gin next to the trash can and the half-full one on the kitchen counter with a glass already next to it and conclude Juno has a drinking problem (not wrong). The trash can full of take-out boxes and the sink empty of dishes. A mug on the living room table, surrounded by case files and a few magazines.

He had been keeping his apartment clean lately, just in case.

“I just want to solve this case right now, sir.”

This snaps Juno back to reality, and he nods with a small smile on his face. “Alright, kid. We can do that.” Angus sits down with him at the table. “I’ve been told, repeatedly, that talking about your issues helps you sort them out or something like that. So, if you wanna… I can try to keep my mouth shut and listen.”

Angus smiles at him again, and Juno feels his comms vibrate. He picks it up and puts it on speaker.

“Hey Boss! So, you and Mistah McDonald were right about the plasma knife bein’ a special kind, but there’s no device I can find that goes with makin’ it a perfect circle. Definitely some new-tech burglar tool, boss. This glass was only invented in the last decade and these blades only started showin’ up within the past year!”

“What’s the brand of knife called, Rita?”

“They don’t have a real name, Boss. They’re referred to as….. PK-80.”

“Was that pause because you had to look it up again or was it for dramatic effect, Rita?”

She’s silent for a moment before responding. “...Yes.”

Angus laughs and Juno smiles softly. “Thanks, Rita.”

“Of course, Boss! If you and Mistah McDonald need anything, let me know!”

“Rita… are you watching the security feed outside my apartment again?”

“...”

“Rita!”

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay, Boss! You didn’t message me back!”

“Hmph. Goodnight, Rita.”

“Goodnight, Boss! Goodnight, Mistah McDonald!”

Angus smiles, dimples showing, and leans forward in his chair, toward Juno’s comms. “Goodnight Miss Rita!” Juno hangs up the call after that and gets up to pour himself a drink. He notices Angus swinging his feet back and forth under his chair and has the urge to tell him to knock it off, but immediately pushes the thought away. He isn’t Ben. He won’t get in trouble with Sarah Steel for doing something so miniscule and tedious. It’s just a nervous tick and it’s fine to have those.

“Do you have any… pajamas in there? Nothing of mine will really fit you, obviously, but you can borrow a t-shirt or something for like a… uh… nightgown. Ya know?” Juno gestures to Angus’ clothes. “And I can throw those in the wash, too.”

“I would really appreciate that, sir.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: im gonna space out updates  
> also me: posts the first 3 chapters in a day bc i crave validation


	4. Chapter 4

Detective Steel was downstairs doing laundry, so, obviously, like any good detective, Angus took the chance to snoop around his apartment. It’s obvious that he didn’t cook often and that he had quite the drinking problem, but his apartment lacked in a lot of other things that a home usually has. There were no pictures on his walls, no art of any kind. Angus went to Captain Khan’s house for dinner a few days ago, so he knows this isn’t just how life is in this dimension.

In his kitchen, Juno has plenty of things used to cook, and Angus recognizes most of the utensils there from cooking with Taako, but they look hardly used. Some of them are nicer, too.

Angus was in Juno’s room earlier to pick out a t-shirt to sleep in (it went down past his knees, it was way too big. Extremely comfy) but he crept back in there after Juno left. There was one photo on his dresser, the only picture in the entire apartment.

In it was Juno and someone who looked exactly like him. They’re both wearing cone party hats and the twin has his arm around Juno’s shoulders, a big dimpled smile on his face. Juno has the same scar across his nose, a smaller faux-annoyed smile on him.

They remind him a lot of Taako and Lup. The fondness on Juno’s face badly hidden with fake annoyance, outshined by his twin’s radiant smile.

Angus missed them a lot. 

He puts the photo down and went back out to sit on the couch, taking out one of the history books he grabbed from the library and wrapping a blanket around himself, getting cozy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm literally updating the next one immediately after this one is posted because it's so short


	5. Chapter 5

When Juno went back up to his apartment, he found Angus asleep on the couch with his glasses still on and a book falling out of his hands. Juno gently took the book away from him, grabbing one of the magazines and using it to mark his place. He folded Angus’ glasses and placed them on the table, atop the book, and adjusted the blankets to cover him more and make sure he’s warm.

Angus was reading a book about Earth’s history, from before they expanded through the solar system. That was something Juno wasn’t even taught in school, deemed so old that it was unimportant. This kid was really just a little nerd, huh?

And he was really a kid. A child. It was a lot easier to see now when he’s asleep in a t-shirt far too big for him without his glasses on. He’s so… young. Breathing easy, freckles dotting his cheeks, no scars or bruises that Juno can see to signify he’s had a tough life. Angus isn’t all skin and bones like Juno was at that age. He does have bags under his eyes.

Nothing about this kid adds up. He has a bag but only the clothes on his back and a few notebooks, as well as some travel bars. His recorded history in the solar system starts a week ago, he doesn’t have parents, and he was living in an abandoned building, but his clothes were clean. The one pair of clothes he has and they’re nice clothes, too. And Juno knows he’s not lying about his name because it’s sewn into the back of his pants.

He seems scared, but not like Juno used to be. He’s not scared like he’s running away from something, but Juno can’t figure out yet what another reason for all of this is. If he’s not running away, then what happened? Why is he on Mars? Is he trying to find someone?

It occurs to Juno how insane this situation should seem. He never worked cases that involved kids, he hasn’t spoken to a kid really since he  _ was  _ a kid, and he never considered the possibility of working a case with a kid.

But there was something else. Juno had first-hand experience on how shitty the Child Protective Services were on Mars. Main Evidence: Sarah Steel didn’t go to jail until she literally murdered her own kid. They were taken away once or twice, but she always got them back somehow. The foster parents Juno was stuck with during those few weeks away from her were always just in it for the money, not because they cared about the kids. And, once, the system separated him from Ben.

He wouldn’t put Angus through the system. He was a smart kid and very sweet, as far as Juno could tell. He had the air of a kid with family waiting for him somewhere, he had to. Angus was basically the perfect child. Polite to a fault, literal child genius, and he dresses better than any adult Juno has ever met (save for one, maybe).

Angus reminded Juno of Benzaiten a little bit. It was the smile that was always on his face and the dimples. He was intuitive and could guess what Juno was thinking. Insisting that he’s fine with a grin when he’s obviously… not.

Maybe that’s why he agreed to all this. Juno just let the events of today happen, and he didn’t complain once. Not about having to work with someone. He wasn’t even forced to work with Angus, he just agreed to it. He sat in comfortable silence with the kid for hours while they were both researching. He followed the kid because he was just genuinely worried about him. Brought Angus into his house without a second thought just because he  _ cared _ . This is possibly the first day in weeks Juno hasn’t made this all about himself.

He considered calling Sasha, telling her the good news. No. She just got a promotion in her fancy secret agency. She’s heard from him enough in the past few months.

So, Juno just goes into his room with his comms. Usually, he’d be at the kitchen table, drinking and looking over the case, but Angus was asleep on his couch. So, he brought his glass into his room, got in bed, and started drinking and looking over the case in there.

He hadn’t had a chance to look over what Rita got them yet. He still had an unread message from her.

It was a picture of the knife. A specialized plasma cutter. The worst part is that it looked familiar.

Juno looked again over the description of what was taken. The Totem of the Stars. An ancient Martian artifact, found in a tomb similar to...

Grimm’s mask.

_ Fuck _ .

It was Peter Nureyev.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> VERY brief mention of drug use.  
> but they're gonna be okay so dw

Peter Nureyev was a very capable thief, thank you very much. He was one of the best.

When he peeked over his shoulder and saw a child chasing him right after he robbed a museum of one of its most precious artifacts, it was very easy to lose them. He didn’t let the child out of his sight, however.

If Peter had to guess, the child wasn’t any older than eleven or twelve. He was dressed far too nicely to be chasing a thief through an alley, yet here he was, looking around and catching his breath. He adjusted the newsboy cap atop his head, fixed his glasses, and then looked around with his hands on his hips, lips pursed as he was obviously thinking.

The thief could hear the little boy groan in frustration, but he didn’t reach for his comms to call the police. Instead, he just started to walk away. He didn’t go back to the museum where officers were surely congregating now to inspect the crime scene, the boy just started his way to the edge of the city.

Peter, against his better judgment, followed him. He was curious. The street appeared to be completely empty when he made his grand entrance, but obviously he missed something.

He was no detective, but children who chase a thief and then don’t go talk to the police about it or seem scared literally at all about the situation is someone he has a few questions for.

The boy led him to the edge of the city, near Old Town. He went into an abandoned building and spent a few minutes barricading the door. Peter saw dim light creepy through the boarded windows, and he was… concerned.

Peter Nureyev did not consider himself a good person. He did just steal a priceless artifact from a museum, but he felt… something. Once the lights were gone from the windows, he waited a few minutes more before taking the paper creds he had and hiding them under the barricade, where passersby wouldn’t see but this boy definitely would once he left this place again.

Peter Nureyev was not a good person, but that did not mean he wasn’t capable of doing something good every so often.

**_~~~_ **

Once the Totem was in the hands of his contractor, Peter Nureyev went back to Hyperion City. It only took him a day to deliver the item, and he knew no one except that child had seen him exit the museum.

He told himself that he needed to be sure the boy hadn’t identified him, because now someone in the Hyperion City Investigation Community knew his name and he couldn’t have this tied to him.

Grimm’s Mask wasn’t tied to him, either, but he could never be too careful.

That is what he told himself as he stood across the street from the abandoned building he had followed the boy to before. It was late evening, two days after the heist, and the door to the building was wide open.

Peter could feel despair building in the pit of his stomach as he crossed the empty street, trying his best to not just run in. The pile of debris the child must have used to barricade the door was just to his left. Across the room, he saw an old mattress with someone who was absolutely not a child sleeping on it.

He walked over, prepared to kick this person awake and interrogate them when he saw that their breath was shallow and there was a syringe that seemed to have fallen out of their hand.

Peter sighed, running a hand through his hair as he pulled out one of his burner comms. Turning the location on, he called the police and dropped the comms right next to the passed out person.

Maybe the boy just used the creds Peter gave him to get a place to stay. Maybe the police found him and put him in a foster home. Or maybe he was picked up by his family and taken home.

Peter had to commit to the lie he told himself. He needed to know this child didn’t identify him.

That was definitely the reason he headed straight back to the apartment of the best detective in Hyperion City. Definitely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


	7. Chapter 7

Angus could tell Juno was lying to him about something when they went to the office that morning.

They knew what type of plasma knife the thief used, but criminals don’t keep their purchase records anywhere Rita can find them.

He still didn’t really understand how these things worked. There was nothing like it back on Faerun.

Things were looking down for them, in terms of finding the thief. If they really had no chance of catching them, then Angus had to move fast. He still had access to the Museum while they investigated this crime. It wasn’t like it would matter if they saw him taking the Beacon since he would be gone once he got it. He just felt bad for associating Juno in all of this. He was very kind, and a really good detective. Angus almost wanted to tell him the truth, but he knew that it was going to be hard to believe.

It was a slow day of reading through all the case files again and watching the security cameras from across the street. Angus took that job because he was worried they might have caught him chasing after the thief right as they fled the scene. Then he would have to worry about HCPD seeing him, too, and that wouldn’t be fun.

But the footage didn’t catch him at all. It barely caught the thief, just a blur in the night, leaving view.

That took the entire day. They called it quits around 7, wishing Rita a good evening and heading back to Juno’s apartment.

“Why do you want to solve this one so bad, kid?”

“I don’t like leaving any mystery unsolved, sir.” He prepared that answer the night before. He knew Juno would eventually ask him that.

“None of us do, kid. Some mysteries are just… impossible to solve.” Detective Steel really sounded like he was talking about something else at this point, wandering off into his own mind. He did that a lot, Angus had noticed. “Anyway. Bet you haven’t had a home-cooked meal in a while, huh?”

“No, sir.”

“Alright. Uh…” Juno opened a few cupboards and looked through them, obviously searching for something. Eventually, he pulled out a book and started to flip through it on the kitchen counter.

Angus leaned over his shoulder. It was a cookbook.

“I’ll make somethin’ but first I gotta go…. Grocery shopping. You hang out here and I’ll be right back, okay kiddo?” He narrows his eyes, looking at Angus. “I don’t have to call a babysitter, right?”

Angus laughs. “No, sir. And really it’s okay if you just want to get takeout, I can get something for myself you really don’t have to cook for m-”

“It’s not for you, kid. I just… wanna make sure I still know how to cook.” For a Detective, Juno is really bad at lying. “I know you’re a detective so naturally you’re super nosy, kid, but I’ll know if you go through my stuff. I’m not saying you can’t, I’m just saying that I  _ will  _ know. Got it?”

“I got it, sir.” Angus smiles up at him innocently.

“Alright.” Juno tucks the cookbook under his arm and heads toward the door. “I’d say be responsible, but, kid, you’re more responsible than most of my friends. I’ll be right back.”

“Bye, sir!”

“Bye, kid.”

Once the door was closed, Angus sat down at the kitchen table. Juno could cook, apparently. He hadn’t expected that. The more time he spent with Juno, the more similarities he could point out between him and Taako. Angus wondered what would happen if they met. Taako was more attention-seeking, sure, but in quiet moments they were very alike. They were private people. They were both twins and, just like when Angus first met Taako, it seemed like his twin wasn’t around. The same missing piece. Although this was obviously very different from Taako. He doubted that Juno could cook as well as Taako could, too. Neither of them knew what to do with a human child, but they were obviously doing their best.

Angus really missed Taako. He missed his whole family, obviously, but he really missed Taako. He missed how Taako would just pop in on a random weekend and whisk him away for a magic lesson. He missed sitting in the kitchen with Taako as he made lunch, stealing a bite of whatever he was cooking. He missed the way they’d mess with Kravitz about what was happening in the Modern World. Lost in thought, he wanted Taako to just drop his ridiculously big wizard hat on his head to snap him out of it.

But he knew it wouldn’t happen. Not now. He just had to get home. Then everything would be back to normal.

He looked up as he heard the sound of the window sliding open, and the creek of someone climbing through. The only light on in the apartment was the dim kitchen light because they’d just gotten home.

Angus picked up his wand and held it in position, cautiously walking into the living room.

“Detective! I didn’t think you were hom-...” A smooth voice said as Angus turned on the living room lights. “Oh. Well, you aren’t the Detective.”

Standing with one leg still out the window was a very tall man. Slender build, over half of his body seemed to be comprised of his long legs. He was dressed in something that Taako would probably wear, minus the big hat. Dark grey velvet pants with heeled ankle boots, a dark red long-sleeved collared satin shirt that was, mostly, unbuttoned. He had an assortment of rings and layered necklaces, oddly shaped red-tinted glasses and short black hair styled in a neat, fancy wave, showing off his multiple silver earrings.

“Why are you breaking into Detective Steel’s apartment?”

“My apologies, I didn’t realize someone else had already called being the break-in of the night.” He put his hands in his pockets, maintaining an even smile. That’s when Angus noticed he had very pointy canine teeth. “I’m not sure what you expect to do by pointing that twig at me, but I may just take my leave. I’ll speak with my dear Detective another time. Ta ta.”

He starts out the window again, and Angus realizes something. “You’re the one who stole the Totem of the Stars, aren’t you?”

The thief steps back in, both of his feet inside the apartment now. “How do you figure?”

“Similar build. And you know Detective Steel, which means you have some sort of history with him. He must’ve had a break in the case after I went to sleep last night and realized it was you, which is why he’s been acting weird all day, trying to get me to give up on the case.” Angus put his wand in his pocket and stuck out his hand. “My name is Angus McDonald, Boy Detective.”

The thief walks over and shakes his hand tentatively. “Ignatius Butler. Your deductive skills are impressive, Detective. May I ask how you came to this conclusion?”

“You called him ‘dear’ and Mister Steel doesn’t really seem like the kind of person anyone would call ‘dear’. I saw the thief run away, and you have a similar build as them. Also, you’re obviously shady, because you just broke into someone’s apartment while you thought no one was home.” Angus pulls his hand away and smiles. “But mostly it was just a guess. By how you reacted, it seems I was right, hm?”

‘Ignatius’ smiles down at him, seemingly impressed. 

“I’m not going to call the police on you, sir. I would actually… appreciate your help with something.”

He raises an eyebrow at that, moving to lounge not-so-casually on the couch. Angus stays standing.

“I am a thief for hire, Detective McDonald. Let’s make a deal.” Angus scowls slightly, the sentence reminding him very suddenly of Garfield the Deals Warlock. Probably not the best… being to think of right now.

“I will give you every cred I have to steal the Traveler’s Beacon for me.” The thief looks him over curiously. “I’ve accumulated quite a bit since I arrived here. Once I have the Beacon, I can leave.”

“Awfully illegal for a boy detective, hm? Why rope Juno into this?”

Angus looks at the floor, feeling suddenly very guilty. “I didn’t mean to. I just wanted his help to find you, and then I was gonna leave. But then he followed me and… insisted I stayed with him since I wasn’t really living in a stable… place…” He takes a deep breath, looking back up at ‘Ignatius’. “Getting the Beacon will help me get Home. I’m gonna tell him the truth before I leave, but I can leave you out of it completely. He’s a very nice lady and I don’t want to lie to him.”

The thief nods slowly, leaning his chin on his hand as he thinks about this offer. “You need the Beacon to get home, you said? If it’s not about money, then why?”

“That’s hard to explain, sir, and I’m not entirely sure you’d believe me if I did.” He glances nervously toward the door. Juno could come home any minute. “The object itself is what I need. It contains… something. Honestly, I’m not entirely sure I’ll be taking it. You can sell it off or return it back to the museum once I’m gone, I don’t care. It’s just in a case that I can’t get through, but you obviously can.”

“Stealing from the same museum twice in one week is dangerous, but something I can do.” He stands, walking toward the window. “It is up to you, but I believe the dear detective may be more understanding on this matter than you think.”

The thief is halfway out the window when Angus hears the door open.


	8. Chapter 8

Juno drops the grocery bags on the kitchen counter with a huff. “I forgot to ask if you were allergic to anything so I just kinda got a lot of options. I mean, most allergies were eradicated by vaccines and stuff a while ago but it never hurts to double-check, ya know?”

The kid doesn’t say anything as Juno shrugs off his jacket and hangs it over one of the kitchen chairs.

“Hey, kid? Are you-” He steps through the archway into the living room and sees Nureyev halfway out the window, staring at him with a sharp-toothed grin on his face.

“We have to stop meeting like this, detective.” Juno reaches for his blaster before realizing he doesn’t have it on him anymore. Angus is standing against the wall, glancing between the two of them with a look somewhere between afraid and shocked on his face.

“I figured you would have gotten the hint last time, Glass. Or should I call the HCPD again?”

“It’s Ignatius Butler right now, dear, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t. I was just on my way out, actually.”

Juno looks at the young detective. “Are you okay, Angus?” He nods and Juno looks back to Nureyev. “Alright,  _ Butler _ . What do you want?” He crosses his arms. “Why would you come back here? Why now? You’re not tricking me into helping you again. I’m not a fool.”

He smiles wider, showing off his pointed teeth. Juno wishes he could walk over there in button-up that damn shirt, just so he’d have the freedom to think about literally anything else. He was dressed differently now than he was as Rex Glass. A lot more accessories, most notably. Different tinted glasses that matched his shirt. Still the same earrings, though- those must be his favorites.

Juno had to be angry with him. The only other option was the various other conflicting emotions he was feeling, and he was in no way prepared to deal with those. Anger was the easiest one for him right now. He could drown the rest with a bottle later.

“I was going to enlist your help in something, my dear detective, but it seems you are otherwise occupied. I’ll come for you later.” Nureyev winks and Juno feels heat rising to his face.

“Do you really have to make everything sound so nasty? Even in front of a kid?” Nureyev steps back into the apartment, closing the window behind him. “Angus, get behind me.”

The boy walks slowly toward Juno, worriedly standing behind him in the kitchen.

“It’s alright, sir. I’ve heard worse.”

“That really doesn’t make me feel better, kid.”

Juno was trying to think of what to do here. This situation sounds like a bad joke. A thief breaks into the apartment of two detectives, then what? Juno knew that if he called the police, Nureyev would just get away again. Seeing him again, here, just… effortlessly looking amazing in his apartment like nothing was wrong at all while Juno had been a mess since he left, it just had to make him angry. Then he had the  _ nerve  _ to come ask for his help?

“Mister Steel, are you… okay?” Angus snapped him out of it.

“What was the job, Butler? Figure out that recruiting me to steal an artifact was just easier than tricking me into helping you? Regret telling me just oh so little about yourself and came back to tie up some loose ends?”

He managed to look offended at that. “I would never hurt you, detective. Not on purpose.”

Angus was looking between the two of them, and Juno could practically see the gears turning in the kid’s head. “He’s the last person you worked with, right? The fake agent from that creepy secret organization Miss Rita told me about? Took the mask and got away from the police. And now he stole the Totem, an artifact found in the same tomb as that Mask, and you don’t want to call the police again because something not-bad happened between you two and also he got away so easily last time.”

Juno could tell the kid was just thinking aloud at this point, but he still looked at him with mild surprise and a little bit of… pride? “Okay, Boy Genius. Can you tell me why he’s in my apartment, how long he’s been here, and why you haven’t called the cops yet?”

“I…” Nureyev looks at the kid expectantly. “It’s complicated, sir.”

“Well then start explaining, kid. -You realized that he stole the Totem, a case you were extremely perseverant about solving, yet you didn’t call the police even before you knew he was good at getting away from them. Does that stick, Angus?” Juno doesn’t turn enough to let Nureyev leave his sight, but he’s mostly looking at the kid with his arms crossed. “I don’t need your whole backstory but if there’s something that directly affects me, like this thief being in my apartment, I deserve to know what’s going on.”

“It’s… hard to believe, sir. I didn’t mean to involve you in all of this.” Angus looks upset and guilty. His fingers are entwined but he’s still moving them, rocking back and forth on his heels, not making eye contact with him.

“He didn’t invite me here, Juno.” The detective turns back around to look at Nureyev. “Truthfully, I… saw this young man in his less-than-ideal housing a few days ago. I went back to check on him today and panicked when I saw a half-dead adult there instead of him. I wanted your help to find him, but…” he gestures toward Angus. “There he is. You already found him.”

“Half-dead? Did you-”

“I called an ambulance, don’t worry. They’ll be fine. Lost one of my comms on it, too.” Flippant and mildly annoyed by the inconvenience of saving someone’s life, thinking that will mask the fact he admitted to  _ caring  _ about someone. Enough to ask Juno’s help when they hadn’t left off on the best of terms.

“That just explains why you’re here, Butler, but it doesn’t explain why Angus didn’t call the cops on you the second he realized you stole the Totem. Something still isn’t adding up here.” He turned around to look at Angus again, less concerned about Nureyev just leaving, but he panics the moment he sees tears starting to well up in the boy’s eyes. “Oh, shit. Kid, are you… I’m sorry if something I said…” Juno crouches down to his eye level, not completely sure what to do. “I don’t care if it’s hard to believe, kid, just talk to me. It’ll be okay! Whatever it is, I’ll… I’ll do what I can to help you.”

Angus sniffles, trying to wipe away his tears but they just keep coming. “I’m so far away from home, sir, and I didn’t want to cause you any trouble but you just remind me a lot of my dad and that made me feel safe and I asked Mister Not-Butler to help me steal something to get home and I was so close but now I… I…” He sobs more and Juno stiffly pulls him into a hug, awkwardly rubbing his back in an attempt of comfort.

“Why do you need to steal something to get home, Angus? Is it money?”

“No, it isn’t money.” Nureyev is standing closer to them now. “He told me the object contains something that will help him get home.”

“And what is that?”

Nureyev shrugs. “He didn’t tell me. I didn’t ask.”

Angus steps away from Juno now, wiping away the last of his tears and taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down. Juno stands back up and glances at Nureyev, who appears completely stone-faced. 

“I… Okay. I’m not from… here.” Angus gestures wildly around them. “Like, anywhere. Here. I’m not from this… hm. Dimension, I guess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I KNOW cliffhangers are annoying but at least they hugged. Juno and Angus both deserve a whole lot of hugs  
> ALSO I figured out how to embed links  
> Find me on tumblr [@julzypoolzy](https://julzypoolzy.tumblr.com/) and on Twitter [@julzy_poolzy](https://twitter.com/julzy_poolzy)


	9. Chapter 9

It was easy to tell that neither of them believed him. To be fair, before the Day of Story and Song, if any of the birds told him that they originated from a different dimension he absolutely would not have believed them.

But when a galaxy jellyfish from a different dimension projects something like a century of jumping from dimension to dimension into the mind of everyone in all the planes, you’re not exactly going to argue with them.

“Kid, that’s…” Angus has officially rendered Juno wordless. “Dimension? Like, whole different… place… what? Kid, what?!”

“Okay, uh…” the boy detective goes to his bag, searching through it for his notebook. He opens it on the kitchen table and flips through it, trying to find something that will help. “Where I’m from, I go to a college that specializes in Arcane Science. There was this kind-of apocalypse almost 3 years ago when this thing called the Hunger tried to eat our… dimension. There are these seven people who have been trying to find a way to defeat the Hunger, traveling from dimension to dimension, never really aging or dying.” He finds his notes on the device he worked on, finally. “But when they jumped dimensions, it was an accident. And they could only do it at certain times, which is when the Hunger was trying to eat a dimension. So I’ve been working with one of those seven people and the head of the school I go to in order to figure out a way to jump dimensions intentionally.”

“Well, that didn’t go as planned.” Angus glances over to Mr. not-Butler with a frown.

“But it did! We found a way to see through to other dimensions, and Mr. Miller and Mr. Barry decided that this one would be the best test one.to test it out on, because we speak the same language and all three of us are human so it would be easiest for us to fit in, and your technology is really advanced so they figured it would be easy to fix if something went wrong and-”

“Okay. Hold on.” Juno cuts him off, putting one hand up as he steps away from the notebook. “I’m going to need you to explain the ‘we’re all human’ and the ‘Arcane Science’ right after you tell me why they sent you here  _ alone _ ?”

“They… didn’t. I thought I had everything figured out and I was really excited so I decided to test it myself, but it took more power than expected to get here so I don’t have enough to… get back.”

It’s quiet for a moment as they absorb all of this new information.

“Arcane… as in, magic?” Mr. not-Butler asks finally, a small smirk on his face.

Angus sighs and takes his wand out again. He points it up into the center of the kitchen and casts Dancing Lights, causing a rainbow of bright light to swirl around the room.

“Fuck.”

“Juno, there’s a  _ child- _ ”

“It’s okay, sir. He can say fuck.” The look on the thief’s face almost makes Angus laugh. “I know it’s… a lot.” He dismisses the dancing lights, trying to give Juno a moment to process.

“And the… ‘human’ thing?” Juno asks softly, lowering himself into one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

“Humans aren’t the only races in my Planar System. There’s also elves, orcs, dwarves, dragonborns, gnomes, halflings, tieflings, genasi, firbolgs… and a lot more.”

“And you’re not secretly hundreds of years old?”

“No, sir. I’m just a very smart 13-year-old human boy.”

“How am I supposed to know you’re telling the truth right now, kid? Obviously you did the… light… thing.” Juno gestures his hands wildly to the middle of the room. “But this all sounds… insane. It’s unbelievable, frankly.”

“Juno, dearest, why would he lie?”

“I don’t know,  _ Butler _ , why did you?”

Angus makes a quick decision and casts Zone of Truth while the two bicker.

“What’s your real name, sir?” Angus cuts in, looking at the tall man. They both stare at him but he maintains eye contact. “Your real name that isn’t fake.”

“He’s not gonna tell you, ki-”

“Peter Nureyev.” As soon as the words leave his lips, Peter Nureyev clasps a hand over his mouth.

Angus smiles. “I cast a spell called Zone of Truth. Everyone in this area cannot lie for the next fifteen minutes.” He puts his wand back in his pocket. “I’m sorry to do this to you, sir, but once I get home knowing your name won’t really matter, right?”

“Damn…” Juno glances back and forth between them. “This must be your worst nightmare, huh, Nureyev?” He’s smiling softly.

“Fairly close to the top of my fears, detective.”

Angus takes a deep breath, drawing the attention back to him. “My name is Angus McDonald. Back home, I’m the world’s greatest detective.” Juno laughs a little at that. “I started solving mysteries when I was 8. I am a 13-year-old human. My home is a different dimension with a whole different planar system and there’s magic and elves and dragons and djinn and a whole bunch of other fantasy stuff. I’m in my second year of school at the Miller College of Arcane Science.” He looks straight at Juno now. “I came here by accident and the only thing that can help me get home is the Traveler’s Beacon. It’s the only thing I’ve seen in this entire dimension with any Arcana Power. I…” Angus takes another breath. “I was orphaned as an infant and lived with my grandfather until he died when I was 10. The apocalypse also happened when I was 10.”

“If you were orphaned as an infant then how do I remind you of your dad?” Angus feels tears starting to well up in his eyes again. He hasn’t allowed himself a moment to think about the reality of his situation since he got here and now it’s all flooding in at once.

“He’s my guardian and him and his husband are the closest thing I’ve ever known to parents and I’ve only ever called him dad on accident.” He wipes away a tear. “He’s a twin, too, and when I first met him he was really closed off and he still kinda has a hard time being sincere but I know he cares about me and his family and I really… I really wanna go home, sirs.”

Juno brings him in for another hug. Less awkwardly this time. Angus clutches onto him like he’s a lifeline. He mutters a chorus of “it’s going to be okay”s and “you’ll get home”s into Angus’s hair as he draws circles on the boy’s back, letting him cry out his frustrations.

They were still in the Zone of Truth when Juno promised he would help steal the Beacon.

Angus wondered how he got so lucky twice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me, uploading another chapter at 4am because I read all of the comments and started crying? Yeah  
> Find me on tumblr [@julzypoolzy](https://julzypoolzy.tumblr.com/) and on Twitter [@julzy_poolzy](https://twitter.com/julzy_poolzy)


	10. Chapter 10

Juno sent Angus into his room to take a nap while he made dinner. Nureyev sat at the table, chin in his hand as he watched Juno cook.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” He regretted saying it after he heard the telltale ‘click’ of a comms camera taking a picture. “It’s a saying, Nureyev, you weren’t supposed to actually take one.”

“I didn’t know you could cook, detective.”

He glances back to look at the taller man, an incredulous look on his face.

“Yeah no shit, Nureyev. We spent, what, three hours together?” Juno turns back to cutting the carrots. “And we weren’t exactly in the environment to talk about ourselves, dontcha think? Solving a murder and… whatever. Can’t get to know a lady all that well in just a few hours, is all.”

“That is a fair point, my dear detective. But I have learned a lot about you today.”

Juno puts the carrots into the pan. “Oh, please do share your findings, Agent Glass.”

“Well, you’re good with kids. That was a shock.” Juno laughs as he starts to stir.

“Just this one, I think.”

Juno can’t see it, but Nureyev smiles fondly at that. “Whatever you say, detective.”

“That’s only one observation, Nureyev.”

“Two.” Juno glances at him. “You can cook.”

“Oh! Well, I guess you’ll learn how well in a few minutes, huh?”

“It smells divine, dear.” Juno hums an affirmation at the praise as he starts on the rice. He got the kind that’s ready in less than five minutes because it’s cheaper. Benten used to sit with him in the kitchen while Juno cooked. He could talk for hours about literally anything. If there was a lull in activity, he’d talk Juno into dancing with him, and whatever dinner he’d been making would end up a little burnt. But it was worth it to see that smile.

Juno puts the cover on the pan, turns the stovetop down, and sits at the table with a drink Nureyev had apparently poured him.

“Ande definitely hasn’t upgraded the museum’s systems yet. Maybe got some more hired muscle to keep an eye on things, but I could probably deal with that.” He takes a sip and looks at Nureyev. “They know the route you took last time, so you’ll probably have to take another. I can get Rita to turn off all the security cameras… Are you… really going to help, Nureyev?”

It was a dumb question and Juno knew it. The ‘Zone of Truth’ thing Angus cast on them has long faded, and the thief hadn’t opened his mouth again after telling the kid his real name. No longer compelled by any other-worldly magic, Juno couldn’t trust that anything he said would be the truth.

“I’m still here, aren’t I?”

Juno has a lot of questions for Nureyev. 

Namely: What the fuck, dude? He almost wanted to just completely go off, but then he’d end up getting loud, and he didn’t want to scare the kid. Or say anything... embarrassing. Juno is Well Aware that sometimes he just says things that should probably never be said. Or wouldn’t be said if the person speaking had thought for even a millisecond before saying it.

“Yeah, yeah.” Juno finishes his drink and gets up. “I’m gonna go tell the kid dinner is ready. Make sure nothing burns.”

There’s a brief look of panic in the thief’s face that makes Juno chuckle as he walks toward his bedroom.

Opening the door, he sees Angus looking at the photo of him and Benten on his dresser with a wistful smile on the kid’s face.

“He was the nicer twin, I’ll admit,” Juno says softly as he walks up next to Angus. “Told you I’d find out if you were snooping through my stuff, kid.”

Angus is clutching something in his hand, looks kinda like a photograph, that he turned over when Juno walked in.

“They got pictures in your fantasy world?”

He lets out a small sound of confirmation as he wipes a tear away from his eye. Juno didn’t notice he was crying, and as soon as he does he’s sent into an immediate panic.

“I’m sorry, kid, I didn’t mean- I was just tryin’ to-...” Juno reaches out his hand to put on the kid’s shoulder, trying to be comforting but pulls away. “You can talk to me about this if you want, okay? There’s a lot of shit goin’ on right now and I’ve been told that talking it through helps.”

Juno can count every time he’s listened to that advice on one hand. He guesses he probably should’ve listened to it more as he watches Angus visibly relax as he talks more about his family. His weird magic family.

Angus shows him the photograph and describes all of the people in it, focusing mainly on the two people with hands on each of Angus’ shoulders in the picture. A tall man with dark skin and a shy smile in a very distinguished suit, who is apparently the grim reaper. Juno thinks that if the grim reaper here looks anything like that, he  _ really  _ won’t be too sad when he dies.

On the other side of Angus is another man with pointed ears and long, braided golden hair under a ridiculously sized hat. He’s failing to hide his smile with an annoyed glare to the person right next to him, one arm wrapped around his shoulders, grinning brightly with that same wild golden hair and pointed ears.

Juno understands why Angus was looking at the picture of him and Benten with tears in his eyes. Twins are twins, regardless of what universe they’re born in, aren’t they?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just finished writing chapter 13 and yeah bois it's deffo gonna be like 15-16 chapters.  
> originally i didn't think i would write so much for this but I'm at 16k in my google docs and it's not even done yet  
> i just love these good good boys so much!  
> Find me on tumblr [@julzypoolzy](https://julzypoolzy.tumblr.com/) and on Twitter [@julzy_poolzy](https://twitter.com/julzy_poolzy)


	11. Chapter 11

Peter Nureyev has never cooked before. He was never in a position where he could learn to, and he’s never  _ had  _ to, so he never did.

He thinks that when Juno told him to make sure the food doesn’t burn it was a joke. But, the detective tends to say every sentence with that same sarcastic tone, so he’s not quite sure.

Whatever Juno has made  _ does  _ smell divine, and he nervously hovers over it with a spatula in his hand, glancing over to see if Juno is coming back with the boy yet. Peter tends to lose time when Juno is around, and he admittedly hasn’t been keeping track, but he thinks it has been much too long since he went to wake Angus. It does not take this long to wake someone up, does it?

The stovetop appears to be at the lowest heat setting, and the cover is on the pan. There does not seem to be any notable activity happening within the pan, but, again, Peter Nureyev has Literally never cooked before. He once broke the microwave at a hotel trying to heat up water for his tea.

He stares down at the stirfry in this moment of panic, trying to discern what exactly led him here. There’s a little boy that has requested his help, and an enamoring detective also helping this same boy, and they are the only people in the past decade or so who have learned his actual Name.

Two people with his largest weakness and he’s hovering over an oven with their dinner on it, not sure how to stop it from burning, and they’re in the adjacent room with no way of seeing him right now and he hasn’t even  _ considered  _ stealing anything in his immediate vicinity for the past hour.

Apart from Juno’s heart, perhaps, but that may be more of a long-con. Another kiss is a more immediate option, but neither of those are… material.

There are many things to consider at this moment. He’s not sure where to start. He’s always focused on the now, the current problem and how to solve it, never the damage his immediate decision would cause. Not the impact it would have on his life or the lives of others.

He should leave. He has a job lined up on Neptune in a few days. This stop in Hyperion City was already interrupting his plans, yet Peter Nureyev found himself wanting to stay. If just for a little while.

Objectively, it would be better for him if he left. The detective probably expected him to. This next job would pay well. Something about a necklace and a nasty divorce, but he hadn’t listened to that part. He only listened to what he needed to steal and where he needed to bring it. This job was… incredibly simple for what he was being paid to do it.

But here he was. In Hyperion City, in the kitchen of a Private Investigator’s shitty apartment, considering how to steal from a museum he robbed two days ago. Because a boy needed this object to get home, where he has family that cares about him. And because a dashing detective is also committed to helping this boy.

And that’s all Peter Nureyev needs to abandon a job, apparently.

The detective and the mini-detective come into the kitchen moments after Peter finishes filing through his thoughts. He can hear Juno laugh as he takes the spatula out of Peter’s hand and puts it down on the counter.

“That was a joke, Nureyev. It’s supposed to be a little bit burnt, anyway.” Juno takes the pan and puts it on the kitchen table as Angus takes plates and cutlery out of the cupboards, setting them on the table.

The red puffiness under Angus’ eyes don’t surprise Nureyev, but the small trail of black dripping from Juno’s mascara does.

“Wait a moment, dear.” Nureyev wipes away the tear’s trail with his thumb before they sit down, smirking as Juno blushes but doesn’t say a word. Juno puts food on Angus and Peter’s plates before his own, and they start to eat. 

“Thank you, sir. This is very good.”

“Yes, Juno, you are a fantastic chef.”

The detective mumbles a quiet “no problem” as he continues to eat. They’re quiet for a few moments as their plates quickly empty.

“So! The Beacon.” Peter starts, looking at the other two. “I could probably go in tonight and get it myself. The job was _devastatingly_ easy.”

“What did you use to block the security comms and unlock the doors?” Juno asks, mouth full of food.

“Well I’d have to run back to my hotel room for it, I’m afraid, but it’s the best jammer out there.”

“Model 104?”

Peter smiles. “105, actually.” Juno nods.

“You can’t use the path you used last time, obviously. And there will be more muscle in the museum now, probably connected with the security officer if any of the comms go off. Rita can turn off all the cameras and unlock every door if I ask her to. Set off some alarms on the opposite side of the museum to get ‘em away from you.”

“Well, my dear detective, that sounds like a plan. Shall I just walk through the front door this time?”

“Actually, sir, I think I have a better idea.” They both turn to Angus. “There is a spell I can cast called Spider Climb. You can enter through the skylight above Hall B and climb down the walls.”

They stare at Angus for a few quiet moments before Peter speaks up. “Very… good idea, Angus. My job would be much more simple with that spell, I believe.” The young detective smiles at him and he can’t help but smile back.

“Magic for thievery. Sounds fun, kid.”

“Actually, sir, last time I used this spell it was to stick to the ceiling of a necromantic church and stop a sacrifice.” They both stare at him again, mouths agape. “It was my dad and his sister’s birthday so I didn’t want their double date night to get interrupted by work.”

Peter nods slowly, glancing over at Juno who still looks surprised.

“Because your other dad is… the grim reaper.”

“Yes, well, my aunt and uncle are also technically reapers but just not  _ the  _ grim reaper, ya know?”

“Right,” Peter says, turning completely to Juno who just shrugs at him. “Okay. Well. Your plan sounds good, Angus, but how do I get out?”

Angus shrugs slightly. “Wear a backpack. Put the Beacon in the backpack. Climb back up. Where I’m from they have wards around museums and such that prevent magic like this, but here stealing things is  _ very  _ easy.”

“Sure does seem that way, kiddo.” Juno smiles as he gets up, taking their plates to the sink. Peter gets up as well, taking the dishes out of Juno’s hands.

“I’ll handle it, dear. Dinner was wonderful.”

“Yeah, uh… no problem.” Juno sits back down at the table as Peter rolls up his sleeves. The least he could do is wash the dishes. “Even with all your neat magic, kid, I’ll still ask Rita to turn off all the security comms. Make it seem like the area is having a power outage. In and out before they even notice. That’s your style, isn’t it, Nureyev?”

“Yes, quite. Mars always seems to surprise me, though.” He shoots Juno a wink before going back to the dishes. “And where will you be during all this?”

“Well… I’ll stay on the roof, I guess, with the open skylight ready to stun anyone that might catch you. And Angus will be with Rita.”

“I need to see Mr. Nureyev for the spell to be maintained, sir. I’ll be on the roof with you.”

“Kid, if this goes bad, I can’t have you-”

“It won’t go bad, sir! And if I’m seen, it won’t matter for me anyway because I’ll be a dimension away after this. And I can cast a minor illusion on your faces to hide your identities. It’ll be fine, sir.”

Peter is having a hard time wrapping his head around Magic. Like, obviously the young detective cast a spell that made multi-colored lights dance around the kitchen, and then cast a spell that made him tell the truth, and that’s indisputable evidence, but it’s still a difficult concept to come to terms with.

“That sounds like a plan, Ango.” Peter turns, a towel and plate in his hands, and sees the sad smile on Juno’s face. “Why don’t you take the bed tonight, kiddo? I’ve gotta talk with him for a bit anyway.”

“Are you sure, sir?” He smiles again.

“Yeah, kid. I’ve fallen asleep on that couch more times than I can count. It won’t break my back, I’m not that old.” Angus chuckles as he stands.

“Thank you, sir. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Angus.”

“Goodnight, Detective.”

**_~~~_ **

Peter smiles once the door to Juno’s bedroom has closed, putting the last of the dishes in the dishrack and throwing the towel over his shoulder. He leans against the counter, looking right at the detective. He poured himself another drink, draped lazily in the kitchen chair. Juno glances at the thief, bringing his eyes back to his drink after seeing Nureyev staring at him.

“So… magic, huh?”

The thief laughs, taking a sip of his own drink. “Apparently, yes. Magic. How fantastical.” Peter saunters over, sitting down across from Juno. “We met investigating a false curse, and here we are, months later, seeing the real deal. From a child, no less.”

“Considering you set up the false curse, I’m not entirely sure it counts.” He laughs again.

“That… That is fair, my dear detective.”

It’s silent for another moment as Juno fills his glass again. “So. Not gonna try to steal my safe key again, right?”

“Only if you don’t want me to, detective.”

“Of course I don’t want to be stolen from, Nureyev, what the hell does that-” his cheeks go bright red. “Oh.  _ Oh _ . Uh… Hm.”

“So long as you don’t call the police and handcuff me again, without consent, of course, I believe we will be fine.”

Juno takes a large sip from his glass. “Yeah, no, I’m good.”

“Are you sure, detective? I do have a hotel room if you’d like more  _ freedom of speech, _ as it were-”

“You’re gonna kill me, I swear to God.” He pauses for a second, putting his glass down on the table. “And that’s fine, I guess, because  _ apparently  _ the grim reaper is hot. So… I’m actually okay with that.”

“Sorry, what?”

Juno looks Peter in the eyes, completely serious. “One of Angus’ dads? He’s the grim reaper. Showed me a picture. Super hot. Taken, but still,  _ damn _ .” He takes another sip. “Also his aunt and uncle are… new grim reapers? I think? I kind of zoned, it was a lot. They’re, like, kind of dead, but not really? And that’s fucking wild.”

“It indeed does sound that way, detective.”

“And they saved the world? And only two of them are related by blood but he’s got a huge family. And they’re twins which is, just, a lot.”

“Darling, you’re rambling.” Peter enjoys hearing Juno’s voice, truly, of course he does. He just doesn’t want Juno to say something that he’ll regret mentioning. At this point, he knows that Juno had a brother that was killed by their mother. He learned today that they were twins. The conversation seems to be heading down that road and Peter doesn’t want to take advantage of the detective’s inebriated state to learn more about his tragic past. He’d prefer to have that tearful discussion when they’re both entirely sober, honestly.

“Yeah, sorry. I’m a lot more talkative after a few drinks, I guess. It’s like a… non-magic truth… zone… thing. Yeah.” Peter chuckles, taking the detective’s glass before he can get himself a refill and bringing it to the sink. “Hey! This is  _ my  _ home, ya know. My cups.”

“I am aware, detective. It is a policy of mine to not drink heavily the night before a heist. That is a mistake you only make once, my dear, and I don’t think tonight is the time for that particular mistake.”

“So, which mistake are we making tonight?”

Peter glances back to Juno, slumped in his chair, slurring his words, pink painted on his cheeks. He smiles. “I don’t think any will be made tonight, dear. I believe it is the detective’s bedtime.”

“I don’t have a bedtime, Peter, I’m a grown-ass lady.” He helps Juno up with a laugh and leads him toward the living room couch. He will file away the sound of Juno saying his first name for consideration in the very near future.

“That may be so, darling, but a good night’s rest is very important.”

“You can’t just, fucking, show up in my life again after  _ months  _ and tell me to go to sleep. I didn’t sleep for fucking days after that damn case, and now the smell of your cologne is gonna be all up in my business for freakin’  _ weeks  _ and I’m gonna stay up thinkin’ about it and I swear to  _ God  _ if you leave and just give me a fucking  _ note  _ this time I’m gonna-” Juno cuts himself off as he seems to notice Peter has laid him down on the couch and draped several blankets over him, effectively tucking him in.

“What will you do, detective?”

“Nothing, probably, but if you show up again out of the blue I’m gonna be even more pissed.”

“Are you angry I came back, Juno?”

He’s quiet for a moment, closing his eyes to think. Peter takes those few precious moments to study him. Without his scowl or the frustrated furrow of his brow, the freckles on his cheeks and the silver scar across his nose- what Juno Steel looks like when he’s just existing. He’s _beautiful_.

“No, I don’t think so. But I was angry about something, and the only reason I didn’t yell at you is because… Angus was there. And there were more important things to worry about.”

“Oh, Juno…” Peter’s hand brushes his cheek as Juno’s eyes finally flutter open. “I’ll be back tomorrow morning. I’ll leave my comms number on the counter. Message me when you’re awake and I’ll bring you and the boy detective some breakfast, hm?”

Juno nods quietly. Oh, what Peter would give to read his mind right now. “Tha’ sounds nice, Peter. See you tomorrow.” His eyes start to close again and Peter smiles.

“Goodnight, Juno. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the MOST Jupeter chapter and also my favorite chapter that I've written (so far). I love Peter's perspective and I absolutely used this chapter as a reason to listen to Man in Glass for the thousandth time.  
> They're just so gay, yall. Love that pining. Very Very Good.
> 
> Find me on tumblr [@julzypoolzy](https://julzypoolzy.tumblr.com/) and on Twitter [@julzy_poolzy](https://twitter.com/julzy_poolzy)


	12. Chapter 12

In the lab of Lucas Miller, Dean and Founder of the Miller School of Arcane Science, Dr. Miller himself and Barry J. Bluejeans have been working practically non-stop for the past two weeks.

Taako is aware that Barry does not technically need to sleep because he’s the grim reaper or whatever the fuck, so he has no reason to not be working on getting Taako’s boy back. He only lets Lucas sleep for a maximum of 5 hours a night.

He has been sitting in this lab since the day Angus did not come home from school. Technically he had a dorm and didn’t live at home, but it was family dinner night, and the kid was always an hour early.

So, when it was ten minutes past when Angus usually shows up, he made Kravitz go check up on him.

It’s the first time in years he’s ever burned dinner. It’s a good thing Lup was there to stop the kitchen from going up in flames because he immediately went over to that fucking Nerd’s office and went off.

So. He’s been watching Lucas and Barold like a guard dog, bringing them the shittiest snacks he could think of until they finally figure this fucking portal out and get his damn boy back.

Krav and Lup pop in every so often. Lup to check up on her own husband, and Kravitz to make sure Taako is also eating and at the very least meditating for a few hours to get his rest. Also, Lucas Miller is still absolutely fucking terrified of Kravitz, so that’s just another plus to his hubby hanging around.

The rest of the birds have also been stopping by. Magnus will stand with his arms crossed, staring at Lucas while he works. Merle will sit next to Taako, bring him some weird tea and talk loudly about all the things they’ve killed during their adventures. Even Davenport came on land for a little while, telling Taako about his time in the big blue sea in an attempt to distract him. Lucretia came, once, and tried to help them figure this shit out. She did help, a little bit, but then she got called back to Neverwinter and didn’t come around again.

Taako’s glad he has Ren helping him maintain his own school because if not for her the past two weeks would have effectively closed it down. Taako knows his kid, and he knows he’s smart. He probably got some suckers over there to take care of him because he’s just that adoptable. Angus was effectively an orphan for the entire first year Taako knew him, and the kid definitely didn’t need anyone to parent him. He’s more responsible than most of the adults he hangs out with, Taako himself probably included, and he knows his kid is on the other side of that portal figuring out a way to get back.

He uses all of his spell slots to cast Sending, trying to get a message to Angus, regardless of how improbable it is that he’ll actually get it.

Taako definitely didn’t read all of the Caleb Cleveland novels in this time because he just missed Angus that much. Absolutely not. That’s ridiculous.

“Holy shit. Miller, check this out.” Barry’s voice tears him from his book. “The issue was with the power source. It just sends them to another dimension but doesn’t maintain their tether to this one. And because this source doesn’t have the power of the bond engine like we did, the difference in planar system of the place Angus went to completely short-circuited the portal. It breaks the bond to this world. We were bound to the Bond Engine, which is what let us keep going. If we re-engineer that to make a smaller bond engine, we can maintain the bond to the dimension the being originates from and send them to a different dimension temporarily.”

“So, we send someone through with this new device and then they can find Angus and bring him back with an altered version of the old device that will work in this different planar system but won’t tether him there!” Lucas and Barry high-five, grins wide on their tired faces.

“How long is this gonna take? Cha’ Boy is gettin’ impatient over here.”

“Well, it’ll take me a day or two to perfect the smaller bond engine. We don’t want to rush into this and get someone else stuck over there. But Lucas can work on the other device for whoever goes over to give Angus and get him home, and Lup can probably help me with the device that’ll maintain the new engine…”

“Give me a date, Barold.”

“Four days at most. Three if everything goes well. Two if it’s perfect on the first shot.”

Taako nods and takes out his stone of farspeech. “And how many people can go over there to get my boy back?”

“I can probably manage two or three in that time frame, bud.”

“Alright. It’s tres horny bois going dimension-hopping again.”

“But-”

“Can it, nerd lord. You both let a thirteen-year-old genius with no impulse control into your extra-planar lab with no supervision. You don’t get to go to the new cool dimension. Just Taako and the Taakettes.” He dials the other’s frequencies on his stone, silently praying Merle finally figured out how to turn his ringer on.

“Hammer and Tails! This is Magnus speaking.”

“Yeah no shit, Maggie. Did Merle answer?”

“Earl Merle is here.” Taako groans.

“Y’all down for a mission?” He doesn’t wait for their answers. “Meet me at Nerd Lord’s lab in two days. We got a little boy to find.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tres Horny Bois make their appearance!  
> I'm on the train of people who love Lucas Miller but would still like him to get punched in the face because he *is* a piece of shit and deserves it. But also I love him. It's a strange relationship.  
> Up Next: Heist Time!
> 
> Find me on tumblr [@julzypoolzy](https://julzypoolzy.tumblr.com/) and on Twitter [@julzy_poolzy](https://twitter.com/julzy_poolzy)


	13. Chapter 13

So Angus did lie about Spider Climb being a spell he needed to keep sight on the subject for. He did not regret it as he sat on the museum roof with Juno Steel and Peter Nureyev. He cast knock to open the skylight, then tapped Nureyev on the arm to cast Spider Climb. They were all wearing masks and dark clothes, on comms with Rita to make sure everything went according to plan.

A moment after Peter starts climbing through the skylight, all of the lights in the museum go off and there’s a rustling of commotion inside.

“Security’s out, boss!” Juno nods, keeping sight on the halls leading into Hall B, blaster at the ready. He is pointedly Not focusing on Peter walking down the wall, or looking directly through the glass they’re on.

No alarm goes off as Peter plucks the Traveler’s Beacon from its pedestal and places it gently in the bag on his back, starting his climb back up toward them. Angus has to consciously stop his leg from shaking or tapping his wand against the surface of the glass.

A guard comes into the Hall and a moment later he’s on the ground, making a dull noise that echoes through the room. Two more rush in, but with two quick shots from Juno’s blaster they’re both on the ground in seconds.

Juno helps Peter through the skylight and Angus slowly closes it as to not make any noise. Angus pulls them both toward the edge of the roof, leading into an alleyway, and casts Feather Fall on himself and Juno.

“C’mon, sir, it’ll be okay. Jump.” Angus starts to tug on Juno’s sleeve but the detective is completely stiff.

“You didn’t tell me about this part, kid. I’ll just take the stairs.”

“Sir we have to  _ go _ . I jumped off the moon once with this spell, I was  _ fine _ .”

“Darling, I saw him do this the night we met. You will be fine, dear.”

Angus holds Juno’s hand and smiles reassuringly at him. He can hear something happening in the museum now, but he does his best to ignore it. “On three, okay?” Juno nods slowly, closing his eyes as Angus leads him to the edge. “One. Two. Three!” Angus jumps, Juno following after him with a yelp. They float slowly to the ground, Juno’s eyes still closed and holding tightly onto Angus’ hand.

Peter lands next to him with a laugh, clasping his hand on Juno’s shoulder. His eyes finally open and he smiles at them both. An actual smile with a good laugh behind it.

“That was really cool, kid, but I’m never fucking doing that again.”

Angus laughs as well as they start to rush toward Juno’s car. “That’s fine, sir, I can’t cast that spell again anyway.” As they all pile into the car, Angus in the back seat, Juno starts to engine and glances back to him.

“Whaddya mean, kid?”

“I can only cast so many spells each day, sir, but because you don’t have magic here my… my magic doesn’t come back after a long rest. Since I got here, I’ve only used a day’s worth of spells over the last two weeks. I probably have a few more cantrips in me, but those aren’t very powerful.”

It’s silent in the car after that. When they get back to Juno’s apartment, Rita is there with her computer open on Juno’s kitchen table. She scoops Angus up into a hug when they get back.

“I’m so happy you’re alright, Mistah McDonald! I was real worried about ya. I wasn’t that worried about Mistah Steel or Mistah not-Agent-Glass ‘cause they’re, ya know, adults, and I don’t know why you had to go along but I’m glad you’re not hurt, Mistah McDonald.”

“And you’re… not wondering why we just had to break into a museum?” Peter asks, head tilted slightly.

“Oh, nah. I help Mistah Steel break into places all the time. All he had to do was tell me it was for Mistah McDonald and I was on board. Never really liked museums all that much anyway. They don’t let you touch anything and that’s real annoying.” 

Angus smiles as Rita releases him from her embrace and looks over at Nureyev. He takes the device he used to get here out of his bag and places it on the coffee table. Juno draws all of the blinds as Peter puts the Beacon on the table as well.

He takes out some tools and tinkers with the device, drawing out a few wires and carefully attaching them to the Beacon. Each time he touches it, he can feel some of his own Arcane Power returning to him. The device starts to light up and flicker as Angus rearranges the wires, causing it to spark.

A rift starts to open in front of him. It starts as a small dot in Juno Steel’s living room and slowly starts to grow until it’s about six inches in diameter.

Angus stands excitedly and looks into it. It grows slowly as the power from the Beacon is absorbed, and he starts to see more. He can hear talking on the other side, although it’s not very clear.

“Taako?” He calls, trying to see more as it expands. It’s a bit blurry, like he’s looking at it without glasses on, but he can almost swear it’s Lucas’ lab. “Barry? Dr. Miller?”

The image grows clearer, though the portal doesn’t open in size. He wouldn’t be able to fit through it, but he knows that’s Lucas Miller’s lab. The portal seems to have opened behind some equipment and the talking has halted.

“Is anyone over there?” He asks desperately, trying to adjust the wiring to make the portal bigger. “Uncle Barry? Dad? Can you hear me?”

“I must be going fucking insane, Barold. I swear to Pan I can hear the kid’s voice right now.” Angus lets out a noise of excitement as he hears Taako’s voice. For the first time in  _ weeks _ .

“No, dad! I’m here! It’s me! I’m behind a storage unit or something! I’m over here!” He’s almost yelling through the portal now. There’s a large crashing noise as many things are tossed aside by a powerful force, and he can see him. Taako, on the other side of the portal.

“Angus McDonald you are SO grounded!” He laughs and tears start coming to his eyes. The portal is still only about the size of a dinner plate, but he can see Taako’s face.

“Mistah McDonald, is it supposed to be sparkin’ that much?” He can hear Rita talking to him, but he just keeps staring at Taako through the portal. There’s no way he could fit through it.

“Dad!” He calls again as the image starts to flicker and fade.

“Angus!” Taako rushes toward the portal, an arm out, but then there’s a blinding flash of white light. When it dims, the device on the table is letting out smoke, the wires that were attached to the Beacon completely destroyed. He leans down, trying to fix it as the wires and metal burn his hands.

“No no no no no no no! I was so  _ close _ !” Angus hisses as his fingers burn, trying to reattach the wires to the Beacon. “It was working, it has to work. I  _ saw  _ him.”

“It’s fried, Angus.”

“It’ll work! I can fix it!”

Juno leans down on the other side of the table. “It’s burning you, kid. You can’t fix it now.”

“I  _ can _ ! I will!” Juno takes the Device off of the table, forcing it away from Angus. He wraps it in a towel as Angus gets up, rushing toward him to try and get it back. “It was working, Mister Steel! It’ll work! Give it back!” Juno tosses it over to Peter, who holds it far over his head. “That’s really not fair, sir.”

“It was burning you!” Juno says sternly, looking at Angus with hard-set eyes. Angus is still jumping up, trying to get it from Peter. “Angus. That thing was almost  _ on fire _ . It’s not gonna work, kid. I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re wrong! It will! It  _ was _ !”

His contact with the Beacon gave him back some magic. He can feel it.

Angus casts Charm Person on Peter and hopes it worked.

“Give it back, please.”

Nureyev raises an eyebrow at him but keeps the device held over his head. “I believe you should listen to Juno, dear. Even through the towel, this thing is incredibly hot.” Damn, he made the saving throw.

“Sir,  _ please _ .”

“I know you’re upset, kid, but you have to listen to me. Just because this thing is fried doesn’t mean your family isn’t gonna be able to find you, alright?” He turns around to look at Juno. Peter starts lowering his arm, still holding on to the device. “That was your dad in there, right? Where was he?”

Angus wipes a tear away from his eye and sniffles. “He was in Lucas Miller’s lab, sir.”

“And what would he be doing in that lab, Angus?”

“F… finding a way to get me home, sir.” Juno nods and crouches in front of Angus, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“We’re gonna keep you safe, alright? Your dad is gonna come get you. He saved the world or something, I’m sure he can figure this one out.”

“He’s not very good at extra-planar physics. He’s probably there to threaten Lucas and Barry into hurrying up.” Juno grins.

“Then you’ve got nothing to worry about, huh?” Rita hands Angus a napkin and he takes it with a small “thanks” as he wipes tears from his eyes.

“Yeah. He’s really stubborn and Dr. Miller is terrified of him and my other dad.”

“Well then, Angus,” Peter starts. Crouching down next to him as well with a smile on his face. “I believe our only concern is the state of Dr. Miller when you get home, hm?”

Angus nods and smiles softly.

“Not to-uh-ruin this real nice moment y’all are havin’ or anything, but, what just happened?” They all turn to look at Rita.

Whoops.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> notice how the number of chapters expected goes up every time I update. I'm in the middle of writing chapter 15 and just realized "yeah this ain't the end huh" but it's close!! We are Almost There.
> 
> Find me on tumblr [@julzypoolzy](https://julzypoolzy.tumblr.com/) and on Twitter [@julzy_poolzy](https://twitter.com/julzy_poolzy)


	14. Chapter 14

Juno made them all tea while Angus attempted to explain where he was from to Rita. He didn’t even realize he had tea in his kitchen, probably got it for his birthday or something and then completely forgot about it.

He was kind of on autopilot, thinking about what just happened. The kid was still stuck here, and he couldn’t be sure for how long. Time has always been a weird concept for Juno, he was never really one to plan for the future. Just trying to survive the “now”. But here he was, right now, and he may have accidentally adopted a thirteen-year-old boy for an undetermined amount of time. And the little boy has magic powers and is also from a different dimension.

Juno really needs to start thinking things through before he does them.

“Are you alright, dear?” He jumps a bit as he hears Peter behind him. “You’ve been staring at the kettle.”

“Oh, uh, yeah. All good. Super chill.” The kettle starts to go off and Juno hurriedly pours the water into mugs and puts in the teabags.

Then, Juno’s comms start to ring. Considering the only person who ever calls him is in the next room, this is worrying.

It’s an unknown number. Juno rolls his eyes and picks it up. “Juno Steel. Who’s this?”

“No hello for an old friend, Juno?” His eyes widen and he looks worriedly at Nureyev, who shoots him a confused glance.

“Agent Wire. It hasn’t been five years yet.” Nureyev’s face immediately registers who he’s on the phone with and he rushes into the other room.

“Unfortunately not. I’m on my way to Mars now, Juno. We’ve had some worrying readings from Hyperion City and I’m requesting your help. Another Cursed Artifact has been stolen and, considering the last agent we sent you, I’ve decided to handle this one myself. You still live in that shitty apartment on Cambridge Street, right?”

“It’s not that shitty, Sasha.” Juno grabs the nearest pad of paper and starts writing something down.

“Yes, well, I’ll be there in about a half-hour.”

Juno feigns an annoyed grown. “Am I even being threatened on this one? Why me?” He hands the note to Nureyev and Angus, who nod and start packing up their stuff.

“Got something better to do, Steel?”

“You get to tell Rita why Ladies’ Night is being interrupted, alright? I’ll be ready to go when you get here.”

“Not in the office?”

“It’s almost midnight, Wire, I’m not that much of a loser. Here’s Rita.” Juno hands Rita his comms and she nods dutifully, keeping Sasha occupied by her loud ramblings of the stream they watched last Ladies’ Night.

“What should we do, sir?” Angus looks up at him, seriously looking like a scared little kid.

“If Dark Matters is looking for the Beacon, they’re gonna find it. Wire said something about it being cursed but, I mean…” Juno gestures to it. “We know it’s not cursed, but it is super magical. And they probably have some way of tracking it once they’re here.”

“There is nothing more we can do with the Beacon, Angus. Should we return it to the museum?”

“She’s going to be here in half an hour. There’s probably cops all around the museum now. There’s no way we can return it now.”

“Do you have a lead-safe?” Angus asks. “Either of you? Lead can hide magic items from detection. If we can put it in lead, they won’t be able to find it.”

“There’s a lead-safe in my hotel room. It’s not far.”

“We can’t risk Wire seeing you, either. Stay in your hotel room. I’ll call you when she’s gone, alright?” Nureyev nods, smiling.

“Of course, darling. The Beacon and Angus will be safe with me.” Juno smiles.

“I know.” He looks around his apartment. There’s not a big mess, both Angus and Nureyev are tidy people, but there is a pile of blankets and a few takeout boxes from their dinner tonight on the table. “I’ll… make this place look more like a sleepover was happening. You should leave now. Through the window, probably. I don’t doubt Wire would look through the security comms around my apartment.”

Angus runs to Juno and hugs him tightly. “Thank you, sir.”

“Of course, kiddo.”

**_~~~_ **

Rita talked to Sasha on the phone for a good fifteen minutes, which healthily masked the sound of Nureyev and Angus climbing through the window and sneaking away, as well as Juno popping some popcorn, shoving half the bag in his mouth, and then scattering some over the couch. Rita was already dressed cozy, because she was planning to stay at Juno’s anyway, but Juno quickly changed into something that didn’t make it look like he was robbing a place tonight.

Purposefully disheveled, is the look he was going for here. That was usually his look anyway, regardless of if it was purposeful or not.

When Sasha Wire finally knocked on his door, Rita was sitting on his couch still, watching a stream and eating popcorn.

“Hello, Juno.” She steps in immediately once he opens the door. Rita waves at her. “I’m sorry for… interrupting Ladies’ Night.”

“It’s okay, Agent Wire! I’m still gonna be havin’ my ladies night.”

“In my apartment. Without me.” Juno adds. Rita nods, grinning. “Let’s get going, Wire. The longer we wait the less likely we are to find this thing. Catch me up in the car.”

“I’ll drive.” Juno shrugs and follows her out.

Just run around with an old friend all night and pretend to solve a robbery. Should be easy.

**_~~~_ **

“Hey Juno, how’s the kid?”

“He’s fine, thanks.”

“Haven’t seen him around the precinct recently.”

“He’s a kid, McCory. And why’re you askin’ me about this?”

“Well, he told Khan he was stayin’ with you. Wanted to make sure you weren’t corrupting him.”

“Oh, ha ha, McCrory, very funny. The kid’s smarter than the entire precinct combined. Don’t think I could affect him that much.” Juno could see the look Sasha was giving him at the mention of a kid. “Got a case to solve. Leave the investigators to their thing, aight?”

“Alright, Steel. If I hear one bad word about you from that kid I’ll-”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” Juno starts to walk away, towards the case the Beacon was trapped in.

Sasha followed him. “A kid, Juno? What have you been up to since we last spoke?”

“He’s an orphan, Sasha. Couldn’t let Hyperion’s shitty foster system ruin ‘em. He’s a real smart kid, it’d…. It’d be a shame.” That was the truth for him, at the beginning.

“He wasn’t at your apartment earlier.”

“It’s almost midnight. He was sleeping.” She nods along as Juno inspects the case. He rambles on, talking aloud as he rationalizes his surroundings just like any other case. Had to be different people, because no one would be dumb enough to break into a museum twice in the same week (obviously) and the method of break-in was entirely different (duh).

They leave the museum. There’s only so much to be done at the crime scene after the crimes have been committed, the next step is to follow the leads you found. And their only lead was whatever magic detector Sasha brought with her.

“You never told me the kid’s name,” she said while they sat in her car, waiting for something to show up on her comms.

“Oh, uh, Angus McDonald. He’s like a… boy genius.”

“If he’s so smart then why is he staying with you?”

“Good one, Sasha. Great dig. Fantastic. I’ve been roasted.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Old! Town! Pals! How's Mick gonna feel when he finds out Juno and Sasha were hanging out without him, huh? It doesn't matter you're solving a crime! He's the leader of the group!  
> anyway i love Mick Mercury. he's a himbo and thats very valid of him  
> and 17 chapters seems like it's the final count, buds. <3
> 
> Find me on tumblr [@julzypoolzy](https://julzypoolzy.tumblr.com/) and on Twitter [@julzy_poolzy](https://twitter.com/julzy_poolzy)


	15. Chapter 15

They got to the hotel quickly, and Angus placed the Beacon into the safe, hoping that the rules of magic were still maintained here.

And also that he didn’t contain enough magic in him to trigger whatever sensor Dark Matters has. That would be very bad.

But now, Angus McDonald was just sitting in a hotel room with a Space Master thief. And it was a fancy hotel room, too. There was a parlor room with a couch and a minifridge in it before leading to the bedroom, with this ridiculously big bed. It was probably the size of Taako and Kravitz’s bed, but the amount of pillows and blankets made it look smaller. This one was just big with a sensible amount of pillows.

“Angus, dear, are you alright?” 

“Yeah, I’m okay. Just thinking about earlier.”

Peter nods, sitting down on the couch in the parlor. “That was your father’s voice through the portal, yes?”

Angus chuckles. “He’d make fun of me so much if I ever referred to him as ‘father’. I just got past calling him ‘sir’.”

Peter laughs along. “And your Uncle Barry was there as well, right?”

“Yes, well, uh… I’m not sure how much Mr. Steel told you about my family, but, hm. Barry is married to my dad, Taako’s, twin sister, Lup. Barry and Lup are both new reapers for the goddess of death.”

“And your other dad is… the grim reaper?”

Angus nods, laughing again. “Yeah! That’s Kravitz. I forget a lot that he’s the grim reaper. He’s really just kind of a nerd.” He smiles to himself. “All of them are, actually.”

“Oh, really?” Peter shakes his head. “Every time you answer a question it only brings me more, Angus.”

“I’m sorry about that, sir. I’ve never really had to explain it to anyone before you and Mr. Steel. Where I’m from, everyone knows the story because a magical creature called the Voidfish projected the knowledge to everyone in our Planar System.”

Nureyev just stares at him for a moment, which is valid. That is some wild stuff Angus just said.

“I think we’ve got some time, sir. Would you like me to tell you the story?”

He smiles, patting the seat next to him. “I would like that very much, Angus.”

And so Angus did. The story as he knew it, anyway, starting from the beginning. Their home, how they left it, and what they did once they got to Angus’ home. And then what Lucretia did to them.

From there, he jumped to meeting them on the Rockport Limited and showed Peter the two fake teeth he now has as a result of being thrown off the train. How he joined the Bureau of Balance.

“I was taken on as a Seeker to help the Reclaimers, but I didn’t really… do a lot. Almost every place they went cut off their connection. On the first mission I helped them with, actually, is when Taako and Kravitz met.”

“Oh, you must tell me more.”

“Okay, well, during the Century where they were traveling, Taako died 8 times. Magnus died 19 times and Merle died, just.... So many times. And, where I’m from, Kravitz is the grim reaper, which is like… A death cop. He serves the Raven Queen, the goddess of the natural passage of life and death. So people dying and then coming back is like the… big no-no. Lucas Miller was using one of the grand relics to try and get his mom back from the Astral Plane, and when Kravitz came to stop him from doing that he found those three and just tried to kill them.”

“Angus, I must say, this is a very interesting love story.” He laughed.

“Yeah, I know. A lot of stuff happened in the Miller Lab. Kravitz caused Merle to lose his arm and he brings it up every Candlenights to make sure he gets a good present.”

Peter laughed at that one. “And how did they come to like each other after this?”

“Oh, well, a lot of souls got out of the Astral Plane because of what Dr. Miller was doing and the Reclaimers got them back in, so they made a deal with Kravitz. But then, next mission, there was this whole town that was stuck in a time-loop and at the end of the loop everyone died, so when they got that relic back they added a few to their death count. Kravitz met up with Taako to talk about it and that’s usually where Taako tells me that it’s none of my business, so…”

They both get a message on their comms just then.

**From: Detective Steel**

Wire knows I’m taking care of Angus, thinks he’s sleeping in my apartment. Heading back soon. She might hang around. Not getting any readings.

**From: Miss Rita**

come back! i have popcorn :3

Angus laughs a little at Rita’s message before lowering his screen to look at Nureyev.

“I can get back on my own. You should stay here and make sure the Beacon is safe. Even if they’re not getting a read on it, we shouldn’t take any chances.”

“Yes, quite. Agent Wire seeing me would also cause some… problems.” Angus nods, smiling as he puts his coat on.

“Well then, sir, I will see you tomorrow. Goodnight!”

“Goodnight, Angus.

**_~~~_ **

Angus pulled a map up on his comms to help him find his way back to Juno’s apartment. Rita showed him how to do that yesterday. It was very handy.

He walked through the streets of Hyperion City at 2 am, wand hidden up his sleeve like Taako taught him. Not that anyone here would look twice at a child holding a stick, but it never hurts to be careful.

Halfway to the apartment, footsteps started following him down the street. A shadow in an alleyway that picked up behind him, keeping in step with his speed. Glancing behind him, Angus sees that this person has both hands in their pockets, wearing a big chunky sweatshirt. They’re also wearing sunglasses.

At 2 am.

Angus stops and spins around to look at them. They stop too. “What do you want?”

“I’m glad you asked! You look like quite the dapper young man, would you be interested in making an investment?”

“A… A what?”

“An investment in your future! For just 20 creds a month, you can own stock in an up-and-coming business!”

“And you’re… proposing this to random people on the street in the middle of the night? You do realize that I’m a child, right?”

“Never too young to be making big decisions like these! The younger you start investing, the better! What’s your name, young man?”

“I’m sorry, sir, I think I’m just going to go home.”

“But you haven’t even heard my pitch yet-”

“Goodnight, sir.”

“Wait, kid, hold on-”

And then they reach a hand out to Angus and he panics, letting his wand fall into his hand and casting “Hold Person” on them.

Then he turns around and runs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two more chapters left!!! oh dear. I love these two detectives just so very much.
> 
> someone drew [art](https://www.instagram.com/p/B880YV7FxdA/?igshid=1qtly2dnxltcg) of these good good detectives (and I cried) (thank you @kiwi in the discord for showing me this)  
> this is the first time someone has drawn something because of a thing I wrote and it's what I woke up to today and it fully made me cry
> 
> Find me on tumblr [@julzypoolzy](https://julzypoolzy.tumblr.com/) and on Twitter [@julzy_poolzy](https://twitter.com/julzy_poolzy)


	16. Chapter 16

“I’m sorry for taking you away from Ladies’ Night for nothing, Juno.”

“Apologize to Rita, not me.” She laughs softly, parking in front of Juno’s apartment.

He’s halfway out of the car when Sasha gasps. “Holy shit, we’ve got a reading.”

“What?” Juno jumps back into the car, barely closing the door as Sasha speeds down the street.

When Sasha stopped, it was far too close to his apartment for comfort. Less than a minute away, in the middle of a sidewalk, there was someone standing there not moving. Completely paralyzed, with one hand outstretched in the direction they just came from.

Juno got out of the car first, running over. They were wearing an Oldtown High sweatshirt, with one hand in the pocket. 

They were also wearing sunglasses at 2 am.

To his dismay, Juno recognized the messy mop of hair, and he knew just the type of asshole that would wear sunglasses in the middle of the night.

“Jay Jay!” Juno jumps back when Mick speaks.

“Mercury, what the  _ Hell _ ?”

Sasha walks toward them, looking their old friend over. “What happened, Mick?”

“I can’t move!”

“Yeah, Mick, we see that,” Juno says, walking around him. “What led up to this?”

And Mick tells them exactly what Juno didn’t want to hear. He was trying to talk some kid into investing (which both Juno and Sasha roasted him for) and then the kid took out a stick, which paralyzed him, and then the kid ran away. From the description Mick gave them, there’s no denying that it was Angus. It had to be. He was the only Arcane Thing that could have done this.

It takes a minute for Mick to be able to move again. He stumbles forward and Juno helps to keep him upright as he catches his footing.

“Should we go to your apartment, Juno?” Sasha suggests.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He’s aware he said that far too quickly. “I, uh… I don’t wanna wake up Angus. It’s wicked late and kid needs his rest. Growin’ boy and all, ya know?”

Sasha nods, understanding. There’s something in her eyes as she looks at Juno, making a responsible decision on behalf of someone else. Pride? Maybe a little bit of disbelief, that he’s seemingly changed so much since they last spoke. Juno had the urge to cut in and tell her “don’t worry, I’m still a mess” but that didn’t seem… right. Not like it wasn’t still true, but like it wasn’t the absolute truth anymore.

Mick looks shocked. Jaw hanging open, eyes wide, the textbook definition of “surprised”. He looked like a cartoon character.

Juno cuts in before Mick can say anything. “He’s not my kid, Mercury, he just doesn’t got anywhere to go. Why doesn’t Sasha give you a ride home? I can walk.”

“Oh, nah, my bike is right over there.” He points over to an alley.

Sasha groans. “Put it in the trunk, Mick.” She turns to look at Juno. “We’ll continue the case after some rest. One kid won’t be too hard to find, and with Mick’s description, we can also get the HCPD on the lookout. This has to be related to the robbery.”

“Yeah, alright. See ya in the morning, Wire. ‘Night, Mick.”

“See ya, Jay Jay!”

**_~~~_ **

Rushing home and fumbling with his keys, Juno is tackled with a hug as soon as the door opens.

“I’m so sorry Mr. Steel I was just startled and scared and I didn’t know what else to do and I-I…” Juno can hear Angus’ sniffles and the small amount of anger that had been brewing was instantly gone as the young detective’s arms clutch him around the waist.

“It’s okay, kid. It’s alright. It’s… okay. It’s all gonna be alright, Angus.” Juno rubbed circles into the kid’s back for a few minutes. Rita smiled softly as she left, closing the door of his apartment and leaving the two detectives together.

They were gonna be alright.

**_~~~_ **

Juno was a bit unclear of how he got into this situation. He woke up on his living room couch with Angus McDonald softly snoring on his chest. It made him smile, face full of curls, as the kid adjusted to hug him tighter.

He sighed and tilted his head back, suddenly aware that he would not be able to move until the kid woke up. And he had no idea what time it was, but the kid had a long night, and he didn’t want to wake him up before he got some good rest.

Craning his neck, he saw Peter Nureyev prying open his living room window, smirking as he climbs through.

“What time is it?” Juno whispers, voice soft and deep from the morning grogginess.

“It’s ten, my dear.” He nods, continuing to rub the kid’s back in the most comforting manner. 

Juno wraps his arms around Angus, adjusting so he’s able to pick him up. Peter opens the door for him as Juno carries the kid into his room, placing him gently on the bed and pulling the blankets over him.

Closing the door carefully, Juno leads Peter into his kitchen and starts making coffee.

“How was it last night, with Dark Matters?”

He shrugs, placing both mugs on the table and sitting down. “It was… fine. Agent Wire is an old friend. Ran into a little trouble, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“Do you have a habit of making ‘friends’ with Agents, detective?”

Juno rolls his eyes, glaring at Peter. “Childhood friends, Nureyev. That was an… outlier.”

He smiles, a small “hmm…” leaving his lips as he lifts his mug up for another sip.

They sit in silence for a while. Drinking their coffee, waiting for Angus to wake up. It’s… nice.

“He’s quite interesting, isn’t he?” Juno raises a brow. “Angus.”

“I mean, yeah. He’s magic and from a different dimension. Pretty interesting.”

“He was telling me about his dads last night. They were on opposing sides when they met, you know.”

“I didn’t know, actually. I figured if he wanted to talk about it he… would.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing to do with you, dear, it was just the timing. It seems like hearing his dad’s voice made him… miss him more. He’s a child who hasn’t seen his guardians for over two weeks, unexpectedly. I’m sure he would have talked with you had Dark Matters not interrupted.”

Juno smiles, soft and… shy. Aware that Peter Nureyev just saw right through him and, for some reason, he’s not frightened by that. “Wait, hold on. Isn’t one of Angus’ dads the grim reaper? Why were they on opposite sides?”

“It’s very complicated, dear. There’s a lot of backstory.”

“I mean, we’ve got nothing better to do. Tell me a story, Nureyev.”

And he does. Juno’s sure that he must be embellishing some of it for dramatic effect, but most of what he says… matches up with the small things Angus has mentioned off-hand to him over the past few days. The way Nureyev spoke, the sound of his voice, just… mesmerized Juno. He could listen to this voice for hours and not get bored, whatever thing he was talking about. 

“And that’s when you messaged, detective.”

“That’s… wow. A death cop and a death criminal. That’s very… interesting.”

“I believe the word you were looking for was ‘romantic’.” Juno looks at him, confused.

“Well, the situation itself isn’t… inherently romantic. It turned out they were on the same side in the end, sure, but it only worked out in that way because of who they are. The entire story just seems far too good to be true.”

“Are you suggesting Angus lied?”

“Of course not! It’s just… ugh. Okay. The world Angus is from has magic. And the circumstances that led to them meeting are just… wild. By the time they really got together, the world had almost ended, and then it didn’t and they had everything they were missing before. It doesn’t happen like that here, Nureyev. You don’t find your long-lost family during the apocalypse. The twin you lost doesn’t show up out of thin air and save the day. Shit doesn’t work like that here. People don’t come back from the dead.”

“Juno, I…” His face softens as he reaches his hand over the table, placing it over Juno’s. “I apologize, Juno. I hadn’t considered how-”

“It’s fine, Nureyev.” Juno softens his voice as well. “I wish it worked like that here, too. But it doesn’t. Some… heartfelt story about a family isn’t going to project itself to the mind of everyone in this universe and suddenly make them a better person.” There’s a pause for a moment until Juno realizes something and chuckles softly. “Ma wrote stories for a living when I was a kid. Not even Sarah Steel could come up with a story like that.”

**_~~~_ **

Angus stayed with Juno for almost an entire week. Nureyev stuck around, too. Something about wanting to see this through, probably.

Sasha Wire stayed in town for two more days until she was called back to Dark Matters HQ. He had to keep making up excuses as to why she couldn’t meet Angus, saying he was busy with another case when really he was just hanging out with Nureyev mostly during the day, and, for once, Sasha was more perseverant than Mick about spending time together. It would’ve been sweet if Juno wasn’t worried about her recognizing Angus from Mick’s description and taking him away to some super-secret base where they’d, like, test on him or something.

Protect Angus, mislead Sasha Wire, and dance around Nureyev’s flirts without making out with him. Those were Juno’s objectives at the current moment and he was sticking to them until further notice.

When Sasha left, Angus took a case with Juno. Wasn’t something Nureyev stole, the thief assured them, and he would sit in the office watching streams with Rita while the Detective and the Mini-Detective did their work.

It was… nice. It was very domestic. To have multiple people you care about in your immediate vicinity without anything disastrous happening.

Juno was happy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh boyo. All of the comments guessing that was Mick Mercury who stopped a small child to talk him into investing in a multi-level marketing scheme absolutely delight me.
> 
> Mick Mercury is a dumbass and a himbo and I love him So Much
> 
> I was thinking of going back and giving the chapters Actual Titles but I have no idea what I'd call them. 
> 
> Thank y'all for reading!!! Next chapter is the last, but I might do an epilogue. *wink*
> 
> Find me on tumblr [@julzypoolzy](https://julzypoolzy.tumblr.com/) and on Twitter [@julzy_poolzy](https://twitter.com/julzy_poolzy)


	17. Chapter 17

“Okay. This device will give you one hour to find Angus. It’ll count down, letting you know how much time you’ve got left. Once the hour is up it’ll bring you back here.” The three of them secure the device around their wrists like a watch. “Now, when you find him, give this one to Angus. It’s a one-way thing, and I made sure the frequency would only bring him here.”

“Thanks, Barold.” Taako takes the orb-thing and puts it in one of his many pockets.

“From what I’ve observed about this place, there seems to only be humans and no magic there. So, ya know, be careful. Don’t want to cause a scene and lose time to find Angus.”

“I’m not a complete dumbass, Barold.” Taako puts on his hat, tucking his ears up into it to hide them. “Ta da! Hail and Well Met, fellow human. Not being able to see in the dark is  _ super cool _ . Love it! Time to go get my boy.”

“What should I do?” Merle asks and they all look down at him. “I’m a fuckin’ dwarf and my arm is a branch.”

“I can put you in a baby bjorn on my chest!” Magnus starts to dig through his bag. “I usually use it for the new puppies as a way of bonding with them, but-”

“He’s a whole-ass old man, Maggie. Long white beard and everything.” Taako leans on the new umbrastaff like a cane. “Short people probably exist in this world, Magnus. Maybe they’ll just think his tree arm is like a…. Tattoo. Or something.”

“There’s leaves growing on it, Ko.”

“Then wear a fucking long-sleeved shirt, old man. Let’s fucking GO.”

**_~~~_ **

Tres Horny Bois are transported to Mars in a bright flash of light. Not in a very glamorous spot of Mars, truly.

As Taako looks around, he instantly casts “Locate Creature”. They’re near the edge of this blue-tinted dome that seems to cover this entire city. He gets no ping of Angus in 1,000 feet of them.

“Alright, boys, let’s get crackin’.” As he turns back to look at his friends, he sees Magnus struggling to snap Merle into the baby bjorn. “I thought we agreed this would just draw more attention to us.”

“I don’t remember agreeing to anything,” says Magnus as he lifts his knee to hold Merle up, trying to clip the straps that would secure the dwarf to his chest.

“You’re a pair of fucking idiots.” Taako casts Mage Hand to clip it for him. “Now we’re gonna be walking around a weird city looking like some weirdos. I  _ will  _ abandon you two doofuses on Mars.”

Magnus chuckles and wraps his arms around the baby-bjorned dwarf, smiling widely at Taako. “What’s the plan, Ko?”

“Well.” Taako starts walking away from the edge of the dome. “I cast locate creature, but Angus isn’t within a thousand feet of here. It looks like, wherever we are, we’re near the edge of this… city. Dome. thing. So the plan is to just… walk toward the middle and cast locate creature again.”

“Don’t you have message?”

“That would require Angus to be within 120 feet of us.”

“What about sending?” suggests Magnus, the only person in their entire group that doesn’t do magic. “Doesn’t that, like, not matter the distance?”

Taako glances over his shoulder. 

He starts to immediately cast the spell. 

“We’re here, Angus. Stay where you are. I’ll find you.” Taako sighs and smiles, as the reality of this starts to set in. “I love you, kid. I’ll see ya soon.” He counts the words on his fingers as he speaks, making sure to keep it under 25. “Stay safe. “

The response is immediate. Hearing Angus’ voice, his tone not distressed, just… happy. It fills his heart with a feeling of… just pure, unconcentrated love.

“Dad! I’m near the middle of Hyperion City, west side. I’m in the office right now but I-... I love you too.” It’s quiet for a moment before Angus yells one more clue straight into Taako’s brain. “Juno Steel Detective-”

And that’s it. He’s out of words.

“Of course my kid found a fucking office job in another dimension. Of course he did.” He shakes his head in disbelief, a smile wide on his face. “Let's go, himbos. We got a little boy to find.”

**_~~~~~~~~~~_ **

Angus was alone in Juno’s office when he heard Taako’s voice. After sending his response back, he rushed in the main area, where Rita and Nureyev were watching a stream on her monitor.

“Where did Mister Steel go?” the mini detective asks, practically vibrating with excitement.

“Just out for coffee, dear.” Nureyev glanced up at him over his glasses. “Why?”

“My dad is here! In this dimension! He’s coming to find me!” Rita gasps and Nureyev straightens his back, a small forced smile on his face.

“That is fantastic, dear. I’ll message Juno to not dawdle on his way back.” He gets up with his comms and walks into Juno’s office, closing the door behind him.

Angus frowns slightly as he sees the sad smile on Rita’s face. “I’ll come back, you know. If he’s here then that means they found a safe way to travel between dimensions.” Rita gets up and fully pulls Angus into a hug.

“I know, Mistah McDonald, but I’ll still be sad to see you leave. And I know Mistah Steel and Mistah not-Agent Glass will be sad too.” Rita holds him just far enough away to look at his face. They’re about the same height, so it’s pretty even. “You’re a real treasure to be around, ya know? After Mistah Thief left that first time, Mistah Steel was real upset about it, but I think havin’ you around and lookin’ after you really helped him a lot.” She gets up on her tippy-toes to kiss Angus on the forehead. “You’re a good kid, Mistah McDonald. You’ll always be welcome here, ya hear me? Anytime!”

Nureyev walks back into the room, looks over the two in their goodbye-hug and very obviously considers turning around and walking back into the office.

Before he can, Angus steps away from Rita and stands right in front of the thief. “Sir.” He starts. Nureyev looks down at him. “It was very nice to meet you.” He reaches out his hand and Nureyev takes it.

“It was nice to meet you as well, Angus.”

Rita rolls her eyes and sits back down at her desk.

The two release each other’s hands as they hear somewhat of a commotion outside, turning to look out the front window of the office.

They see Juno Steel, Private Investigator, running down the sidewalk, completely ignoring over pedestrians as he sprints to the office, throwing the door open with a carefully balanced tray of four cups in his hands.

“It’s really happening, huh?” He puts the tray down on the waiting room table. “I’m, uh… glad you get to finally go home, kid.”

Juno walks further into the room, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he looks anywhere but Angus’ face.

The boy detective tackles the adult detective with a big hug, bringing them both to the floor. 

“This isn’t goodbye forever, sir. I promise I’ll come back and visit.”

Juno sits up, the boy wrapped his arms around his waist and is completely intent on staying there for the time being. Angus feels Juno wrap his arms around him, resting his chin on top of the boy’s head.

“Of course, kid. I know you will.”

Angus feels more arms wrap around him, and hears Rita’s sniffles in his ear. “C’mon, Mistah Thief! It’s a group hug!”

“I don’t- No, that’s not a- ahem. Uh…”

He feels Juno lift his head a little bit to look at Nureyev. “C’mon, Rex. It’s the kid’s last day on Mars for the foreseeable future. Get in on this.”

“Only because you make such a compelling argument, Detective.”

And so they stay there for a while. Juno’s arms around Angus, Peter’s arms around Juno and Angus, and Rita’s arms around all three of them.

**_~~~_ **

It’s almost 45 minutes after Angus received Taako’s message that the door to Juno Steel Detective Agency opens and he sees his dad again.

Angus runs and jumps at him, and Taako picks him up with a laugh and a small squeeze, holding on to him so tightly. He can feel four more arms wrap around him as he lifts his head to see Magnus standing there, familiar grin on his face, with Merle in a baby harness on his chest.

“Ango!” Magnus exclaims as he squeezes all three of them in his arms.

“Mango!” Angus exclaims back, laughing as he is completely squished by their embrace.

“Hey kid,” Merle says softly, patting him on the back.

“Hi Merle,” Angus replies, equally soft, leaning into Taako’s chest. “I missed you so much.”

“We missed you too, pumpkin.” Taako kisses his head. “Krav would’a been here too but we were worried about him going to a different dimension when he’s not technically, ya know,  _ alive _ , per se.” He adjusts to look at something on his wrist. “We’ve only got fifteen minutes left on Mars, bubbelah.” Taako looks over Angus’ shoulder to see the three people standing behind him, all with soft, sad smiles. “Are these the people that took care of you, pumpkin?”

Angus nods, wiping away his tears as they release him from the embrace, but still holding on tightly to Taako’s hand. “Yeah! This is Miss Rita, Detective Juno Steel, and…” He trails off, wildly gesturing to Nureyev. “Mister… Stylish Thief. Guy.”

Nureyev laughs at that. “Peter Nureyev. It’s a pleasure.”

Both Juno and Angus look at him with a moment of surprise as Rita looks at him, absolutely delighted.

“Thank you for looking after my boy,” Taako says, squeezing Angus’ hand. “What do you have for money here?” Taako starts to dig through his pockets with his free hand.

“They don’t use gold pieces, dad.”

“We don’t need anything-” Juno starts, at the same time as Angus. “Seriously. We were just- uh- glad to help. Really. Angus is a good kid.”

“Despite my best efforts,” Taako ruffles his hair before continuing to root through his pockets. “Do y’all have gold here? What does gold mean to you?”

“It’s valuable. Super rare, but they don’t really use it for a lot.” Angus informs him and Taako nods thoughtfully, pulling a small bag of gold coins out of one of his pockets.

“We’re kinda rolling in the stuff back home, so, this really ain’t a big deal for us. Kinda saved all of existence or whatever so we’re really rich.” Taako tosses the bag to Juno. “Pawn it off and get some money or whatever.”

Magnus takes a small cube out of his pocket and hands it to Angus. “This'll take you home with us, Ango. Just press the button on top and we’ll be back in Faerun.”

Angus turns the device over in his hand thoughtfully, then looks up at the other three. The detective, the secretary, and the thief.

“I’ll come visit you. I promise.”

Juno smiles at him. Big and confident and  _ real _ . Rita sniffles a bit, wiping away her tears on her sleeve, a bittersweet smile on her kind face.

“Keep your comms, Mistah McDonald. Wheneva you feel like comin’ over- we’ll be here.”

Angus remembers something he had prepared for them and starts to root through his messenger bag, pulling out one of his many notebooks. He runs over and hands it to Peter.

“I wrote down the full story.” Peter looks at the notebook then back to Angus before pulling the boy detective into one last quick hug.

“You are my favorite detective, Angus.” Juno makes a small noise of protest. “I look forward to seeing you again.”

Angus pulls the three of them into a final hug, for just a minute. Then he walks back over to Taako and grabs hold of his hand, smiling at them. “Goodbye, sirs! Goodbye, Miss Rita!” He waves to them, and they wave back, and Angus presses into the cube.

With a flash of light, the four of them are gone.

Peter looks at Juno, a small smile on his face.

“So… The large man had the dwarf in a baby harness.”

“Yep.”

“Is it a… cultural thing?”

“Nope.”

“Ah. So they are really just as strange as Angus made them seem, then.”

“Yep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, sorry it took me so long to get the final chapter up. Really made ya wait for it, huh?  
> Some ~family stuff~ happened and it just took me a while to feel up to finishing this. There's gonna be a nice epilogue coming up in a few days with the short POV of Juno and Ango coming up in a few days, just to wrap it all in a pretty bow. 
> 
> Find me on tumblr [@julzypoolzy](https://julzypoolzy.tumblr.com/) and on Twitter [@julzy_poolzy](https://twitter.com/julzy_poolzy)


	18. Epilogue

Angus McDonald, Boy Detective, was finally home. Immediately upon arrival in Lucas Miller’s Lab, he was enveloped in the biggest group hug probably ever. The reunion was a bit tearful and the crowd was far too big for Lucas’ lab, so they moved on to their home just outside of Neverwinter. 

Taako and Kravitz didn’t let go of him for the entire trip there, and he didn’t mind. Once they got home, Angus helped the twins in the kitchen, making something for the big group that followed them here. Magnus called Lucretia and Merle called Davenport, and they both arrived within the hour. Carey, Killian, and Avi were not far behind Madam Director.

Once everyone was settled with an arrangement of snacks and desserts on the coffee table, they sat in the living room as Angus told them about everything he learned on Mars. He told them all about Juno Steel and Peter Nureyev, the Detective and the Thief, who did everything they could to help him get home. About Hyperion City and the very nice Police Captain that invited him over for dinner with his family. About Juno finding him in an abandoned building that he set up base in, and insisting that he stayed with him.

When he told them about him taking part in a flawless museum heist, Carey gave him a high-five and Taako wrapped an arm around him, laughing loudly.

“And then this guy- who apparently Juno knew from high school or something- stopped me, a small boy, on the street in the middle of the night to try and get me to invest in a multi-level marketing scheme! Not even to mug me or anything! He tried talking a  _ teenager  _ into making an  _ investment _ !”

Lucretia couldn’t stifle her laugh at that.

“What did you do, Ango?” Magnus asked through laughs.

“I cast Hold Person on him and ran away!”

Barry laughs so hard he snorts, leaning fully on Lup for support.

“Well, you know what I always say. If someone walks up to you in the middle of the night, cast a spell on ‘em and run.”

“Dad, you've literally never said that before. You’re supposed to say like a common phrase or something like that.” Merle chuckles and wraps an arm around his daughter.

“Anyway-” Angus starts. “Before I started staying with Mister Steel, I spent a lot of time in the library-”

Taako laughs loudly. “Nerd.”

“-and these quick reading glasses really helped me learn a lot about this other dimension. Thank you again, Miss Lucretia.” She smiles at him fondly. “I took a lot of notes while I was there, too. Most of them are about Mars, but there’s a whole Galaxy of other planets! Mister Nureyev told me a lot about some of the other Planets and Asteroids and Space Stations and stuff, but most of the information he gave me was very… I mean, he made me an I.D. I don’t think it’s even a Fake I.D. I have official Martian Citizen Identification.”

When it started to get late, everyone started to leave. They trickled out slowly, Magnus being the last one to go, until it was just the Twins and their husbands left with Angus.

“Alright, Ko. Barold and I are gonna hit the hay.” Lup gives Angus a kiss on the forehead and a quick hug. Barry ruffles his hair and says “Goodnight” as they head next door to their house.

“Can we, uh, talk for a second?” Angus asks.

“‘course, pumpkin.” The three of them sit down on the sofa, Angus in the middle. “You are grounded, by the way. That wasn’t a goof. You scared the hell outta us, kid. No more alone time in the lab, got it?”

Angus nods. “Yeah, that was… not my brightest moment.” He clasps his hands together and looks down at them nervously. “I know you guys are like… Legally my guardians and you adopted me and stuff, but, uhm....” Kravitz puts one hand over his, in an attempt to be comforting, and it’s… warm. “When I was over there, I missed you a lot. When I was over there Mister Steel called you both my dads a lot and I kind of got used to it to because it kind of fits but I just wanted to talk to you and make sure that was okay-”

“Pumpkin.” Taako cuts off his rambling and wraps an arm around his shoulders. “You called me dad over there and, I mean… cha boy ain’t good at this whole ‘sincere’ thing, but… It was… nice.”

“If you would like to refer to us as your dads more often, Angus-” Kravitz gently squeezes his hand “-we would welcome that. Of course. Knowing you and taking part in your life has been a pleasure, Angus, and… not something I ever thought I’d be able to have.” Angus looks up at him, tears welling up in his eyes. “To be your dad would be an honor.”

“Yep. Same. Exactly was I was gonna say. Stole the words right out of my mouth, Krav.” Angus laughs as they both wrap their arms around him, tears flowing freely, and this might be the happiest Angus McDonald, Boy Detective, has ever felt.

**_~~~_ **

Juno Steel, Private Investigator, woke up to the sound of noise coming from his kitchen. Groggily lifting his head, he saw that the other side of his bed was empty, blankets carefully tucked up around his shoulders to keep him warm.

He gets up with a groan, throwing on the first shirt he sees and shuffling out his bedroom door.

“What are you doing, Nureyev? It’s 7am.” 

The thief looks at him with a sheepish smile. “I wanted to make you breakfast, dear.”

Juno laughs and starts making his coffee. He looks over to the frying pan on the stove, which certainly has…. Something…. In it.

“That’s real sweet, Nureyev, but what the hell were you trying to make?”

“Scrambled eggs…”

“How did you fuck up scrambled eggs?” He shrugs and Juno laughs, taking the frying pan to the garbage and throwing away the “eggs”. “Do you want a breakfast burrito? Pancakes? French Toast?” Juno suggests, looking through his fridge to see what he can make.

“Pancakes sound lovely, dear.” Nureyev sits down at the kitchen table with his own mug of coffee.

Juno shakes his head with a smile and gets started on some good old-fashioned pancakes.

He hums as he cooks, thinking about the past month. Angus left almost three weeks ago, and Peter Nureyev went back to work a few days after that. But… he came back between jobs. Juno didn’t know what those jobs were, at his own request, but Peter Nureyev has left and come back to him three times now. With gifts, usually. Fun little things he “picked up” (stole) from ship ports, usually. Trinkets that live on Juno’s dresser. None of them could possibly be worth more than five creds, but he treasured them.

Way more than he would ever admit. 

Setting down their plates on his kitchen table, sitting down to eat pancakes in the morning with Peter Nureyev, Juno Steel was not only happy, he was content, smiling like a fool and not minding if anyone noticed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :') thank you for reading!! Perhaps there may be more Multi-Dimensional Shenanigans for my two favorite detectives, but only time will tell!
> 
> Also, just for y'all who ~know~, Juno will not make the Big Whoopsie at the end of S1 in THIS universe! no way! We're not canon compliant in this household! We take a hammer and FIX the canon!
> 
> Find me on tumblr [@julzypoolzy](https://julzypoolzy.tumblr.com/) and on Twitter [@julzy_poolzy](https://twitter.com/julzy_poolzy)


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